


The Princess and The Cop

by witchoflegends



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, First Meeting, Slow Burn, and mako is ready to give it, cause this boy just falls so fast and hard, mako is a nervous dumb, mako is serious sokka energy with the amount of badass/well off people he dates, they are meant to be your honor, yua deserves love and affection, yua is chaoitic and bad with emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28000536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchoflegends/pseuds/witchoflegends
Summary: What happens when a Republic City cop meets the princess from the Fire Nation? Will they get along, or will their ideals clash? Are their worlds too different, or are they actually a lot more alike than they thought? Only one way to find out.This is a multi-chapter fic for Mako and Izumi's daughter (which I have named Yua). I heard that Bryke had planned to put her in the show, and ship her with Mako, and I just fell in love. So I'm indulging myself, cause no one else will.
Relationships: Izumi's Daughter/Mako (Avatar), Mako/Yua, Makua
Comments: 17
Kudos: 70





	1. Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first actual fic I've written in a while. So hopefully you guys like it. Sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes. I didn't proofread it what-so-ever. Also, if you have any ideas for a ship name, let me know.
> 
> This fic will also switch between who the reader is following. This first chapter is Mako. Next chapter will be Yua. Then after that, back to Mako, and it will continue like that. Going back and forth between the two.
> 
> Last thing: if it's labeled F/F for you, idk why. I have it marked as F/M, but for some reason it's showing as F/F for some people.

As a detective Mako had learned to pay attention to the small details, and that was exactly what he was doing with the woman standing in the precinct. Long black hair that was partially tied back, with a small braid on one side, almost buried in her hair. Amber eyes that seemed to be carefully watching everything around her. Red clothes with gold and black accents that definitely looked like they cost more than his apartment. She had an air about her that demanded attention, but no one else was paying attention to her. Everyone too focused on their tasks to notice a random person walking in.

So Mako stood from his desk and made his way over to her. “Do you need help, Miss?”

“Oh. I was just wondering if Chief Beifong was available.” Her voice was exactly like he had expected it to sound. Sweet and a bit melodic. Also filled with the politeness of someone used to having to play nice.

“She’s not here right now, but I’m sure I’d be able to help.” He offered. Sure that anything this woman needed doesn’t require bothering the Chief of Police.

“Oh, no. That’s alright. I have something for her, and I really should give it to her personally.” The woman then pulled out an envelope packed to the brim from her jacket to show him, before returning it to its proper place.

“Well, then you can either stay and wait for the Chief to get back, or you can come back later.” Mako told her as he started making his way back to his desk. Fully expecting her to choose the later.

Instead, she simply followed him to his desk. “You wouldn’t mind if I stayed, would you? I really shouldn’t be trying to chase down the Chief of Police.”

“You can do whatever you want,” he muttered softly.

“Great!” The woman was awfully cheerful and comfortable for being in a police precinct as she leaned against the front of his desk. Much to Mako’s displeasure “I haven’t been to Republic City in so long. I can’t wait to see what’s all changed. For one, there’s some new faces here that I don’t recognize. Like you,” she paused to ready the name plate on his desk, “Detective Mako.” There was another pause as her hand went to her chin in thought. “Now, why does that name sounds so familiar?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only been a detective for a few years now.” He wasn’t really paying much attention to the conversation. Just wanted to appease the woman enough for her to leave him alone so he could do his work.

“Oh? Well, what did you do before?” The curiosity in her voice was not a good sign that she was going to drop the conversation anytime soon.

“I was a pro-bender, and fought with the avatar.”

“That’s it! I recognize your name from pro-bending! The Fire Ferrets were my favorite team!” She exclaimed enthusiastically. “Well… I guess they’re still my favorite team, but they’re not as good without all of you. I just have to support a team with my favorite animal as their mascot. Too bad I never got to see you guys play.”

“Yeah. It was something. Didn’t end too great though.” Mako continued to mutter, but this time there was a bitter edge to his voice.

“Right…” The woman’s tone immediately changed and looked downcast. Which made Mako feel bad. He hadn’t wanted to upset her. There was the whole Equalist thing, the world almost ending, the Red Lotus, Kuvira, and numerous other things. Her sour demeaner didn’t stay long as she decided to switch topics. “You know, I think my brother actually mentioned you in one of his letters.”

That caught his attention, brows raising curiously. Looking at her for the first time since he had sad down. “Yeah? What, did I save him from being robbed or solve something for him?”

She chuckled – which confused Mako – and shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. You’ve actually worked with him. Somewhat. General Iroh. He talked very highly of you, and how you and your friends handled the situation with the Equalists. And other problems, of course.”

Mako’s eyes widened as he realized what she was saying. General Iroh, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, was this woman’s brother. That means he was… “General Iroh is your b-brother? T-that means y-you’re,” a princess. His words died in his throat and his brain tried to come to terms with the fact he was speaking with a princess. Not just any princess, but the Princess of the Fire Nation.

“I’m Yua. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mako,” she greeted with a smile. As if she was completely unaware of his internal struggle.

“I… uh… met your grandfather.” What did you say to a princess? What could possibly be considered interesting to royalty? He knew Wu, but he was eccentric to say the least. Mako was sure Wu was an extreme of royalty. Plus, he didn't really have to hold a conversation with Wu. The man just talked. No prodding or acknowledgement really necessary.

Yua moved to sit on top of the desk. Plopping herself down so that she was just barely on the edge as to not disturb any of his work too much. “That’s right! I almost completely forgot that he mentioned you when he got back from trying to stop the Red Lotus. I would have joined him, but my dad wasn’t having it. Didn't want me running off an fighting dangerous criminals. Can you believe that?" She was being playfully sarcastic. Something that Mako was sure a princess shouldn't be doing.

Mako’s cheeks flushed slightly at learning that Lord Zuko had spoken about him. “Wow. You’re whole family talks about me.” He tried to joke, but it kind of fell short as he chuckled nervously.

“Oh, definitely.” If Yua had noticed his nervousness, she wasn’t saying anything as she went along with the joke. “Though, I started it. Pro-bending fan and all.”

She was teasing of course, but that still caused Mako’s blush to grow. Before he could reply, Chief Beifong entered the precinct, followed behind by a few officers.  
Mako stood and saluted as she passed his desk. “Chief,” he called.

With the Chief’s attention drawn to Mako’s direction, he eyes landed on Yua sitting on his desk. Smiling almost sickeningly sweet at the Chief. “Right. I forgot you were getting into town today.” Lin began in her typical unamused monotone. Completely ignoring Mako. “Do you have to be bothering my detectives?”

Yua at least had the decency to act offended as she hopped off the desk. “I was simply waiting for you, Aunt Lin. How long has it been? You never visit us anymore.” There was mock hurt in her voice as she placed a hand on her heart.

“Maybe I’d visit more if you would stop calling me that.” Lin grumbled, moving to go to her office. Yua quickly following in tow.

“Oh, but mom said specifically to go see Auntie Lin and-“ The teasing words of the princess died as Lin closed her office door behind the two of them.

Leaving Mako staring at the door in disbelief. Not sure if what he just witnessed had actually happened. How did he get into situations like this? After the shock eventually wore off, he slowly sat back down and got to work. Trying his best to push that odd interaction to the back of his mind so he could focus.

\-----

Mako had managed to finish a good number of his reports by the time the door to the Chief’s office opened again to reveal a smiling Yua, and a slightly less grumpy Lin. The two of them saying their goodbyes. With Lin warning the princess to stay out of trouble, to which she just laughed and made her move to exit. Paying to mind to the detective she had previously been talking to as she made her way across the room.

Right before she made it to the door, the princess turned. “It was lovely meeting you, Mako,” she called out with a wave. Then promptly left.

“What was that about?” Mako asked the Chief.

“Oh? Yua? She has to check in with me when she gets into port and give me her official itinerary for while she’s here. It’s the agreement her and her parents have so that she doesn’t have to have guards with her twenty-four seven while she’s here.” There was a pause. “And she gave me something from her mom.”

“What was it?”

“You’re not on a high enough paygrade to know that, detective.”

With that, the Chief returned to her office and left Mako alone with this thoughts as he stared off into the direction the princess had left. Had he made himself a fool in front of her? He had no idea, but it sure did feel like it. He was supposed to be better at meeting high profile people than Bolin. But now Bolin was greeting and meeting those types of people all the as President Moon’s assistant, and Mako was having trouble thinking straight. He was such an idiot. It wasn’t like she did anything special. She hadn’t even said she was a princess, and he had immediately lost his cool.

\-----

Clocking off work, Mako made his way to a local restaurant where him, Bolin, Asami, and Korra had decided to meet for dinner. They had all been busy with their own respective jobs and responsibilities, so it would be nice for them all to get together for once. Without some impending danger to force them to do so. He was running a late, so he quickly grabbed a taxi outside the precinct. When he arrived, the other three had already grabbed a table and were talking lively to one another. Walking over to where they were, and took a seat as they continued to talk. He tried to figure out what was being discussed, but having walked in on the middle of it just confused him.

“Sorry I’m late. Beifong decided to dump a bunch of reports on me, and I couldn’t leave until I got them done. What are you guys talking about?”

“Just about the princess of the Fire Nation being in the city,” Asami replied casually, lifting her drink to her lips.

Korra nods. “Tenzin says she’ll be stopping by Air Temple Island to check on the Fire Nation citizens that were given airbending.”

“Yeah, and Zhu Li has a meeting scheduled with her later in the week too,” Bolin added. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it. The whole city is buzzing about it.”

“It’s all anyone is talking about right now,” Asami agrees.

“Oh, I… uh…” How did he even address this? Mako rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. “I kind of already met her…” He said it so quietly that he hoped that none of them heard it and would move on.

Bolin, however, seemed to have heard him perfectly fine as his eyes widened and he stared at his brother. “You what? You met the princess of the Fire Nation and didn’t bother to tell us?!”

“I’m telling you now!” Mako protested. This was ridiculous. When was he supposed have told them aside from right now.

“What’s she like?” Asami was a lot calmer than Bolin was at the information that he had already come face to face with such an important figure.

“Spill it,” Korra says, barely sitting in her chair. Excited to hear all about the princess.

Mako let out of huff, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. “There’s not much tell. She was there to talk to Beifong, and had to wait. So she started up a conversation. Seems nice. Definitely has a presence. I’m surprised she didn’t have the whole precinct staring at her.”

Korra smirked at the last part, brow raised in question. “So she’s pretty?”

“That’s not what I said!” Mako let out another huff, putting his hand on his face. “I was talking about her energy. She could certainly hold a room’s attention if she wanted to. I don’t even know why we’re talking about this. I thought this was supposed to be a night for us. Not city gossip. Have you even ordered yet?”

That managed to successfully changed the topic as Bolin’s train of thought moved onto food. “No. But I’m starving!”

Bolin and Korra then got into a heated conversation on what to order. Arguing over the type of dumplings to get. To which Asami said it was on her so they could get anything they wanted. Mako continued to sulk.


	2. Making New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A princess has her duties, but when they're all said and done for the day, she can spare time for the Avatar and her friends. Though, not everything turns out as expected when said princess tries to introduce the krew to some Fire Nation culture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to toxiclove7 for helping me proofread a bit. Though, there's probably still some errors we didn't catch, so I apologize for any that you might find.
> 
> As mentioned previously, the chapters are switching between who they follow. So the first chapter was following Mako, so this one will be follow Yua. I'm gonna try to update this fic at least once a week, around Thursdays or Fridays. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Yua’s first stop was breakfast with her brother. Most would assume they would meet at a restaurant or something normal people did, but no. Instead, Yua and Iroh sat eating their breakfast on the deck of one of the United Force’s naval ships. The two relaxed as they ate and watched Iroh’s subordinates train.

“Do we really have to have breakfast on your ship? You have an apartment for a reason, Iroh.”

“I need to be available at a moment’s notice. It’s not my fault that the United Forces teaches its recruits to wake up at the break of dawn like we do.” It was typical for firebenders to wake up with the sun, and it was even more expected for firebending royalty to do so.

Yua decided to change topics. As she realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere with the current one. “Do you at least get a day off at all? You know, so I can spend some time with my brother that barely gets to come home anymore?”

Iroh sighed. “I’m working on it, Yua. You know I want to spend time with you. I’ve just got a demanding job.”

She groaned. “You’re a workaholic. I swear, you somehow married this job.”

“Says the girl that can’t sit still for too long, and needs to be kept busy.”

“Shut up.”

Iroh smiled cheekily at his sister. He noticed they had both finished eating by that point and stood from where they sat. “Want to do some training of our own?”

“What? No waiting an hour before sparing? Aren’t you afraid of getting a tummy ache?” She teased.

“You’re just scared I’ll kick your butt.”

She scoffed as she stood. The two of them found an open spot on the deck and faced one another. “Please. You might be ten years older than me, but you’re not  _ that much _ better than me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Their sparring session went about as well as they expected. The two of them, despite the years that separated them, were pretty evenly matched when it came to fighting. They knew how the other fought, as well as how their attacks could be countered. By the end of it, Iroh had gotten his sister to the ground twice, and Yua had only managed to do so once. Before leaving, she complained about needing a shower before showing up at her next stop of the day.

\----- 

Her next stop was Air Temple Island. She needed to check in on the Fire Nation citizens that had become airbenders and chosen to go with Tenzin to create the new Air Nation. Tenzin met her on the dock as she exited the ferry that carried her to the island. She bowed to the elder airbending master, and he bowed in return.

“It’s good to see you again, Yua.” Tenzin greeted, and started walking back to the island with her in tow. “I let the airbenders from the Fire Nation know that you were coming. They’re excited to see their princess.”

She chuckled at that, shaking her head. “I’m not their princess anymore, Tenzin. They’re of the Air Nation now. Though, mother would say such loyalty is a strength.”

Tenzin led her to where the new airbenders were practicing. She offered a quick bow of her head in greeting to them. He then called his children over. It had been about five years since Yua had been to Republic City and visited the airbending family. Still, she recognized the oldest, Jinora, and the other girl, Ikki. It took her a minute to recognize Meelo, but that was alright as he seemed to have trouble remembering her as well. Rohan on the other hand, was completely new to her, and he was absolutely fascinated by this new person. Ikki asked her a hundred questions a minute, while Jinora tried to get a word in, Meelo stared, and Rohan babbled away happily.

Eventually each airbending kid was pulled away by someone different, and Yua was finally able to focus on why she was there in the first place. It wasn’t hard to find the few airbenders with pale skin and amber eyes. It certainly helped that they tried not to stare. They were more than happy to be pulled away from their airbending practice to talk to their princess. Though, she did have to remind them that she technically wasn’t their princess anymore. Still, by the end of their talks, Yua was pleased to know that they were doing well and thrived in the new Air Nation. Making sure that they were doing alright was the reason she had come to the island, and she was glad that she did. So she decided to stay a little longer and observed the airbenders train.

“Yua,” Tenzin called, standing behind her on the steps she sat on. “I’d like to introduce you to Avatar Korra.”

She turned and stood to face the two, bowing respectfully to the avatar. “It’s an honor to finally meet you, Avatar Korra. I’ve heard so many stories about you.”

“It’s great to meet you too, Princess Yua. I’ve been hearing so much about you.” Korra beamed. “I was worried I’d miss your visit to the island.”

Yua furrowed her brows at that. “You’ve been hearing about me?”

“Definitely. The city’s been buzzing about your arrival since yesterday. It’s all anyone could talk about.”

“Oh.” The princess’ cheeks dusted a very light shade of pink as she thought about being the talk of Republic City. “I didn’t think me coming back to the city would cause so much of a stir. I used to come here all the time as a teenager.”

Korra shrugged. “Maybe that’s why. Cause it’s been so long, and I can only imagine the kind of attention a princess gets without even trying.”

“I’m just trying to do my part for my nation…” Yua said quietly as she nervously held her arm at her side. Sometimes she didn’t really care for the attention, but it was something that came with the territory.

“I think that’s what we’re all trying to do.” Korra smiled before Tenzin grabbed her attention. Needing her help with something airbender related. “Sorry. The avatar’s work is never done. Hey, we should get together sometime. I’d love to introduce you to my friends.”

“I’d be honored,” Yua replied respectfully. “Have you been to any of the restaurants in the Fire District?”

“No. We typically stick to a few local places, but nothing from that side of the city.”

“Well, since I’m sure none of you have been to the Fire Nation, there’s Capital City Cuisine. It’s the best place to get authentic food just like what you’d find at home. My treat, since I love exposing people to my home.”

The two set up a time to meet, and Korra made a mental note to tell her friends. Tenzin called for her a bit impatiently. She apologized to Yua once more and waved goodbye as she ran off in his direction.

\-----

Yua had made sure to arrive at the restaurant early enough to get a private room. It wasn’t necessarily a high class restaurant, but it certainly wasn’t a casual eatery either. Korra and Asami arrived first, hand in hand, and sat together. Asami taking the seat directly to Yua’s left. Bolin and Opal arrived next, and took seats beside the first couple. Mako arrived last, and by himself. Which left only one seat open. The one between Bolin and Yua. For once, he wasn’t in his police uniform, but he was as stiff and serious as if he was still wearing it.

“I’ve already ordered,” Yua started, “but I had them leave the menu if you want to order anything else.”

And with that, the group started off with casual conversations and introductions. Yua happily meeting Asami, Bolin, and Opal for the first time. Though, Korra did take the time and reintroduced Mako to her. While he gave an awkward nod and a soft,  _ ‘princess’  _ in greeting when her attention was on him.

When the food had arrived, it took multiple servers to bring it all into the room, and they started carefully placing the numerous dishes around the table. Once everything was placed down, Yua gave the staff a polite ‘thank you’, and started explaining what each dish was, so that everyone knew what they were getting into before digging in. However, she left two dishes unexplained.

Korra noticed this. “What about those?” She asked, pointing to the two dishes closest to Yua.

“Oh, um…” The princess had been hoping that those would be ignored. “Those are fire noodles, and komodo sausages. A lot of traditional Fire Nation food has quite a bit of spice to it, so I tried to order things that everyone might like. I didn’t want to subject you all to the full brunt of Fire Nation spice if you aren’t used to it.”

“They don’t look so bad.” Bolin said as he eyed up the noodles. He grabbed some and put them on his plate. Much to the rest of the table’s protests against it. Bolin then reached for the sausages in question, and Mako grabbed onto his arm.

“I won’t be the one taking care of you if you end up breathing fire by the end of the night,” Mako warned. “Leave that stuff for the people that can actually handle it.”

Bolin pouted slightly, but listened to his brother’s warning none-the-less. Everyone else started filling their plates as Bolin moved onto the other dishes. Everyone had grabbed at least some bit of either the fire noodles or Komodo sausages, aside from Opal. She knew better than to risk that type of assault on her taste buds. Mako took his time to grab food. Choosing to be one of the last ones to fill their plate, and even then, he didn’t fill it nearly as full as everyone else. Yua noticed this, and made sure to sneak extra bits of food onto his plate. Having assumed he was just trying to be nice, and didn’t want to over indulge himself.

Yua was surprised by how most of the group handled their spice. Asami seemed to take it the best, but still had to breathe through the spice. Korra panted quite a bit from it, fanning her mouth, and Mako just kept quietly downing his water. At least Bolin had saved the fire noodles after most of the food on his plate. Or perhaps that was a terrible under sight, because as soon as he swallowed the noodles, his mouth burned. He immediately stuffed his face with the rest of the food he had on his plate. When that didn’t work, he gulped down his drink, and then grabbed the pitcher of water and drank straight from that.

Everyone was laughing at the sight. Korra and Mako practically full-on howled at Bolin’s reaction. Korra almost spit out her tea in the process. Yua had her hand over her mouth, cheeks hurting at how hard she was laughing. Asami and Opal were much more reserved in their laughter. Opal shook her head at her boyfriend, and rubbed his arm comfortingly as he continued to try to stop the burning inside his mouth.

When everything had calmed down, and the laughter subsided, Asami turned her attention to the princess. “So you don’t have guards? When Prince – King Wu was here, he needed guards. Mako was his bodyguard for a bit. Before he became King, that is.” Mako stiffened at the reminder.

“I think my dad would like me to have them when I’m away from home, but I give Chief Beifong my official itinerary for the time I’m here. So she knows where she can find me, and I usually have certain stomping grounds when I have free time.”

“You have an itinerary? That sounds strict. Sounds like Tenzin,” Korra grumbled around a mouthful of chicken.

Yua shrugged. “Yeah, but I’ll take it over guards wherever I go. I’m mainly here for official Fire Nation business anyway, so it’s not too bad.”

It was Opal that spoke up next. “Still, Iroh doesn’t have to do all that, does he?”

“No.” Yua rolled her eyes, put her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand. “He gets to be General of the United Forces. The Crown Prince can do whatever he wants, and go where he needs to without a fuss. But me? No. I’m the family’s little girl. So I need protected.” Her voice was filled with annoyed sarcasm.

“Sounds rough,” Mako muttered bitterly.

“Uh…” Yua narrowed her eyes at him slightly, but ultimately ignored his tone. “I mean, it’s annoying. I don’t think anyone likes having their every move monitored.”

Mako leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. “Yeah, must be real annoying to have people look out for you.”

“I’m sorry?” Fire started to burn in Yua’s eyes as she stared at Mako. Giving him a chance to correct himself before making things worse.

“I’m just saying, if your biggest concern is being watched all the time, and being told you can’t go somewhere without following certain rules, I’d say you have it pretty good.”

Yua turned to face him fully. “That’s pretty presumptuous of you.”

“Is it? I’m sorry we can’t all have people watching out for us twenty-four seven.”

“Mako, stop,” Asami warned.

Yua put a hand up to stop Asami’s protests. “No. There’s obviously more here. Go on.” She waved for him to continue.

Mako straightened in his seat, and rubbed his hands on his pants before he spoke again. “I just think it’s ironic that you’re complaining about needing safety measures when you have everything you need. I mean, a princess gets the world, right? Never has to want for anything. Is it tiring? Having everyone bend to your whims?”

A stunned silence fell over the table. “How dare you.” Yua was the only one that dared to speak in that moment. Jaw tensed and fists clenched under the table.

“I find it hard to believe you don’t enjoy the attention,” Mako shrugged. “That is why you invited us here, isn’t it? So that you could share your prosperity with us, and show off. Have all the eyes on you.”

“Mako!” Asami and Korra simultaneously yelled at him. Opal and Bolin shared a concerned look.

“What is wrong with you?” Korra continued, while Asami turned to Yua, and said, “I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Yua dismissed their concerns. Far too calm for any Fire Nation royalty to be in such a situation. Yet, everyone could swear they felt the heat of her radiating off of her. “He obviously has his own concerns, and no one should keep him from expressing them.”

She then turned back to look at Mako. “You have  _ no _ right to talk to me like that,” she scolded coldly. Her voice filled with venom, and her eyes glimmered with so much anger that Bolin was concerned his brother would burst into flames. “You know  _ nothing _ about me. You know nothing about my life. You think you have a good grasp of the world,  _ detective _ ? You don’t understand anything about it, and I don’t need to bother explaining myself to you.”

With that, the princess stood from her seat in a huff. “It was very nice to meet all of you,” her voice was softer, kinder when she addressed the rest of the table. She tried her best to push down the hurt in her voice and replace it with something heartfelt. “Please, enjoy the rest of your meal. I’ll make sure everything is taken care of.”

Forcing a smile she turned away from the table and walked to the hostess to pay for everything they had ordered up until that point, as well as the private room. She also made sure that if they ordered anything else, or stayed longer than permitted, that that bill would be sent to her. From there, she made her way to the shipyard. After all, the best place to let out an anger that told you to burn everything around you was a military shipyard where no one would ask why drills or training was taking place at all hours of the night.


	3. Apologies Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako attempts to track down the princess and apologize for his behavior. Will he be able to gain her favor, or has he burned that bridge completely? After all, there's consequences to insulting royalty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.
> 
> Again, big thanks to toxiclove7 for helping be proofread a bit. Still, apologies for any mistakes we may have missed. Enjoy!

Korra called after the princess as Asami stood from her seat. She calmly walked over to Mako, grabbed him by the ear and pulled.

“What is wrong with you? She was nice enough to feed you, and you went ahead and upset her!”

“Ow ow ow!” Mako smacked at Asami’s hand. When his ear was freed from its assault, he rubbed at it to try and sooth the pain. “I just said what everyone was thinking. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“No one was thinking that,” Korra fumed. He was lucky Asami was in her way. Otherwise she’d have half a mind to pummel him. “And the big deal is that you were way out of line!”

“Yeah, Mako,” Bolin agreed. “She was really nice, and what you did was really mean.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mako replied sarcastically. “I didn’t realize I had to accept listening to her complain about how good her life is.”

Korra bristled at that, and was about to lunge across the table until Asami placed her hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Let’s just go,” Asami suggested quietly. To which Korra nodded.

“You better apologize,” Korra warned. She refused to be responsible for Mako’s terrible decisions and poor personal skills. She also didn’t want the anger of the Fire Nation coming down on him for disrespecting their princess. Especially when said princess had been nothing but kind and welcoming to them.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” Mako muttered with a wave of his hand in dismissal. “I’ll make sure to apologize to little Miss Perfect next time I see her.”

Bolin sighed sadly as he stood up. “Come on, Opal. I’ll take you back to the island.” He turned to Mako. “See you at home, bro,” he said softly before he turned to head out with Opal.

Asami and Korra followed shortly after. Which left Mako all by his lonesome in a private room at Capital City Cuisine. Instead of leaving himself, he decided to brood in his solitude and ordered a few glasses of wine, since he didn’t plan on going anywhere for a bit. When he felt as though he had had enough and his senses dulled slightly, he flagged down the waiter and asked to pay for what he had bought. To which the waiter informed him that everything was being paid by Miss Yua, and he didn’t owe anything. Well, crap. Now Mako felt terrible. He had been a huge jerk, but she made sure he didn’t have to pay a single yuan. He ran a hand over his face before he stood with a groan, and made for his and Bolin’s apartment.

The next morning, Mako woke up with a headache, but he headed into work regardless. Between reports, taking calls, taking on new cases, and following leads, he tried to convince Beifong to give him any bit of information on Yua. All he needed was where she was staying, or one of her itinerary stops. No dice though, as the Chief had that information locked up tight.

“She doesn’t need fanboys chasing after her,” Beifong had said. He grumbled that he wasn’t a fanboy, and she only replied with a “Whatever, kid.”  
So that left him with only one option. Which was to, unfortunately, ask Bolin for help. After all, he did say that he knew Zhu Li had a meeting with the princess sometime that week. All he had to do was get his brother to tell him. Easy. He hoped.

\-----

“Oh, so you are going to apologize.” Bolin was far to smug for Mako’s liking.

“Would you shut it already? I don’t have time for this. I’m supposed to be doing my nightly rounds right now. I just need to know when she’ll be meeting with Zhu Li. I can’t get Beifong to tell me anything.”

“I don’t know, Mako… I can’t really share Zhu Li’s schedule with anyone. I could get in trouble.”

“Oh, come on, Bolin. I just need this one thing. All you have to say is the day and time. That’s it.”

“Fine, but you didn’t hear it from me. They’ll be meeting on Thursday at one in the afternoon.”

“Perfect! Thanks, Bolin! You’re the best!” Mako said as he bolted from their apartment.

Mako only had to wait a day before President Moon and Princess Yua’s meeting, but it was the longest day of his life. Or at least it felt that way as he ran through all the possible ways to apologize in his head. Worried that she wouldn’t accept it, and that he’d then have to go explain to Korra that the princess hated him. It was almost as scary of a prospect as coming face to face with the princess after the fool he had made of himself the other night.

The day of the meeting came, and Mako arrived at City Hall about twenty minutes prior to the time that Bolin told him. He hoped that he’d make it before Yua did. Maybe it was a bad idea to bother her right before an important meeting, but he didn’t care at this point. He sat down in one of the empty seats that were placed within the foyer. Unable to stop from fidgeting nervously as he looked around the room, and watched anyone entering the building. Eventually, he spotted Yua as she walked in. She certainly looked determined and focused. He stood immediately and made his way to her.

Mako blocked her path, which effectively stopped her in her tracks, and bowed ever so slightly. “Your Highness.”

“Detective,” she replied coolly, and looked off into the distance. Boredom, and a bit of malice laced her voice.

Her demeanor threw him off his train of thought. Despite the fact that he had expected such a reaction. “I, uh… wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night,” he stammered.

“Did you?” Her tone still wasn’t friendly, and continued being cold towards him. “And why would I want your apology when I can have anyone else bending to my whim?”

Mako visibly flinched when his words were thrown back at him. “Listen. I’m an idiot, and I get defensive about stupid things. It’s just that… after reading about what you’ve done, and how nice and generous you were being at dinner… It made me self-conscious, because I’ve never been able to do that. So I took it out on you when I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry.”

“You read up on me? Am I a person of interest now, Detective?”

“What?! No! It’s just that after you stopped by the precinct, I found some articles about you and was curious. From what I gathered, you put a lot of time and effort to take care of your people. Then the way you acted at Capital City Cuisine… Everything about you seemed so perfect, and I guess I wanted something to break that.”

“So let me see if I have this right. You looked up information about me. Then got upset because there was nothing bad you could find, and I treated you and your friends nicely.”

Mako sighed. “You could put it like that. Yeah.”

“Good. So we’re on the same page. About that anyway.”

“What else is there?”

“Something you need to learn, Detective.” Yua paused as she moved to walk past him, and patted his shoulder. “No one is perfect.” She took a seat to wait for her meeting with President Moon.

Mako awkwardly took a seat beside her. “You know you don’t have to call me, detective, right?”

“Do you want me to not call you by your title?”

“Well… it would make me feel better about you accepting my apology. If you called me by my name, that is.”

“Oh, I never said I accepted your apology.”

“What?”

“You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you? Because either you’ve been waiting here since that night in hopes that I’d show up, we just happened to be in the same place, or you somehow found out when I’d be here. Either way, it seems a little… suspect. Wouldn’t you say?”

“I-I didn’t mean anything by it!” He assured. “I just figured that you wouldn’t stop by the precinct for the off chance of an apology.”

“So your brother told you.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement that the princess had decided was fact.

“I never said that.”

“Given the options I presented, it’s the only logical way we could be talking right now. Or did I just imagine Bolin telling me he was President Moon’s assistant?”

It was then that Bolin walked into the foyer, and made his way over to the pair. “Hey, Mako! I didn’t know you’d be here.” An obvious lie, but no one said so. “Your Highness,” he gave a polite bow. “President Moon is ready for you. So if you would please follow me to her office.”

“It was good seeing you again, Detective.” Yua smiled a little too sweetly at him as she stood to follow Bolin. “Hopefully we’ll run into each other at a better time.”

“Yeah…” Mako muttered. “You too.”

“Oh! Now that I think about it.” Yua turned on her heels to face Mako once more. “There’s a pro-bending match tonight, and I’m going. Come and I’ll think about your apology.”

“You want me to watch pro-bending with you? I’ve only ever played.”

She shrugged. “Iroh is incapable of pulling himself from work. So I’ll be watching it alone otherwise. Front row, section D. Come if you’re up for it. Or don’t.” With that, she turned back to Bolin, and followed him quickly down the hallway.

Mako groaned, and rubbed the headache that was beginning to return. How could someone be so cold and serious towards him one minute, and then invite him to a pro-bending match? It didn’t make sense to him one bit. This girl was going to be the death of him, wasn’t she?

\-----

It had been a while since Mako had stepped into the pro-bending arena. And even longer since he stood in the stands. It was strange; to be in the middle of the crowd instead of staring up at it. Something about the fact that no one seemed to notice him made it even worse. Why would they notice you? Mako thought to himself. You haven’t been a pro-bender in years. A part of him missed the cheers and attention that came with pro-bending. But then he reminded himself he was doing something more worthwhile. Something he was good at, and took great pride in.

It wasn’t hard to find Yua, despite the crowd. Just as she had said, she was in the first row of section D, and sat at the edge, right next to the isle. All he had to do was look for her signature red clothes. Clothes that, he realized a little too late, could only ever be found in the Fire Nation. Sure, there were elements of the style throughout the city, especially in the Fire District, but nothing was close to the real thing. It was a wonder he had completely missed it the first time they met. Almost like how she completely missed his arrival as he made his way down to her. She was far too focused on the arena in front of her. An oddly intense look on her face.

“Uh… Is that seat taken?” Mako tried to joke, hand rested on the side of his neck nervously.

“Oh. You came! I was expecting to spend the game by myself.”

“Well, your acceptance of my apology is on the line. I couldn’t exactly say no.” He joked once more.

Yua chuckled, and moved over to the seat beside her so that Mako could sit down. “Smart man.”

“So… why pro-bending? Doesn’t seem very… princessy.”

“I suppose it’s not, but I’ve always been a little rebellious. I like things that are fast paced. As a kid, I found it hard to sit still, and still do at times. Always wanted to go a mile a minute. Always wanted as much excitement as I could get. So when I discovered pro-bending on the radio as a kid, I fell in love. Now I always have to see at least one match when I’m in Republic City. I haven’t been able to watch a game in years.”

“I guess it is pretty exciting, and everything goes so fast when you’re in the ring.” Mako paused. “Who’s playing tonight?”

“The Ember Island Eel Hounds and Harbor Town Hog Monkeys. I’m rooting for the Eel Hounds.”

Mako did his best to keep engaging the princess in conversation that she might find interesting. Everyone became silent as the lights dimmed in the stands, and the spotlights focused on the playing field. The teams were announced, and the game commenced.

Yua’s demeanor changed almost immediately. She sat on the edge of her seat, and gripped onto the railing. Mako noted the way her eyes lit up as if she was seeing the pro-bending match for the first time. He honestly enjoyed watching her more than he did the game. It turned out that she didn’t really need him there to offer any type of commentary or additional excitement. Aside from the fact that she grabbed his arm a few times when there was a particularly stressful moment, or an impressive play. He found that he didn’t mind her holding onto him, and was just glad she couldn’t grab his arm that never fully healed after Kuvira’s attack. Mako even suffered through sharing a bag of fire flakes with her. Throughout the game, he almost completely forgot about the fact that she was a princess.

“That was such crap.” Yua complained as the pair made their way outside. “Winning the game through a tie breaker. And what were they thinking in sending in their firebender? The Hog Monkeys’ firebender is leagues better than theirs. They practically threw the match!”

“They could have,” Mako noted. “It’s not uncommon for a team to throw. Sometimes you can make good money that way.”

“Why would they do that? Wouldn’t that defeat the whole point of pro-bending?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I just know that the Triple Threat Triad used to pay pro-benders to throw matches so they could make a fortune off the winning team. I’m sure at least some of the other gangs orchestrate things like that.”

“Either way, I hope that’s not the case and the Hog Monkeys won fair and square.” With that, a comfortable silence fell over the two as they stopped to stand beside the road. “That was fun,” she said. “I’m glad I didn’t have to sit there by myself.”

“Sitting? You could barely stay in your seat,” Mako teased. “You looked like you were having plenty of fun without me. I don’t think I added a whole lot to your experience.”

“Nonsense! Sometimes you just need someone else with you, and I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Honestly? Me too.” There was a pause. “Where are you staying? I can take you back. If you’d like, that is.”

“Did you drive?”

“I brought my motorcycle. It’s right over there.” Mako jabbed his thumb in the general direction of his bike he had saved up way too much money to buy.

“I’ve never ridden one before, so I don’t think that’s the best idea…”

“Oh, come on. You can even wear my helmet. If that helps.”

“You just want me to say yes so you don’t have to go stalking me around City Hall anymore.” She teased him.

Mako was glad that it was dark outside, otherwise she might have seen his cheeks flush. In hopes to save face, he attempted his best effort at being suave. “Is it working?”

Yua laughed and he wanted to hide out of embarrassment, despite how much he liked the sound, but that died down when she replied. “I guess it is.”

With a wide grin on his face, Mako led her to where he had parked his bike. He grabbed his helmet and placed it on her head carefully, making sure the straps were adjusted just right. Even though she could have done it herself, she made no complaint at his need to assist. His heart thrummed in his chest as he drove her back to her hotel, and he desperately hoped she couldn’t sense it with her arms wrapped around him.

“Thanks for the ride, Detective.” Yua said as she dismounted his bike, took off the helmet, and held it out to him.

He took the helmet, and rose a brow at her. “Detective? Still? So my apology hasn’t been accepted?”

“A princess of the Fire Nation has always been honor bound to accept.” She leaned forward slightly to place a soft kiss to his cheek. “Good night, Mako.”

With that, Yua turned and went into the lobby of the hotel. Mako stared dumbly after her, but she just kept going until she reached the elevator, and disappeared from his sight. He smiled softly at the ground before putting his helmet on, and drove off back to his apartment.


	4. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yua has a meeting with President Moon, lunch with the air kids, and a scuffle in the streets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to you all! What better way to start off the new year than with a new chapter?
> 
> Apologies if there are any mistakes that were missed. Hope you enjoy!

Yua reached for her tea, desperately feeling the need to rub her temple. Yet another meeting with President Moon and it was wearing thin on her.

“So you want the Fire Nation to help with your spirit vine problems and rehousing your citizens?

“Precisely.”

“And is there anything the Fire Nation would get in return?”

“I’m not following.”

“The Fire Nation, at the rule of Fire Lord Zuko, has spent over the better part of a century making up for the damage it caused, and trying to rebuild the world. I’d like to think that he accomplished that by the time he stepped down as Fire Lord. I mean no disrespect, President Moon, but the Fire Nation does not have endless resources, and the problems that have come from the spirit vines and new spirit portal are not events that we should have to pay reparations towards.”

“Yes, but the Fire Nation has always been a huge support to the United Republic. Even with Lord Zuko helping to build our nation. I would have thought you would be more than happy to continue that support.”

“I would love to give the United Republic support with this, but you’re asking far too much. It’s one thing to ask for military support, but with what you’re proposing, you are asking us to pull important funding for our own citizens to build state of the art buildings for yours. We offered you resources to temporarily house, as well as feed those that were put out because of the spirit portal. Yet you want more?”

“We’re simply asking for a little more help to get these people into permanent housing faster.”

“Again, no disrespect to you or what your people are going through, but I think we’ve given you quite a lot for a foreign nation. Yet you keep asking for more. It tells me that no matter how much we give, you will continue to ask for more and more. The United Republic hasn’t been under Fire Nation control in a very long time, but we still give to you. So please, explain to me how what you’re proposing makes sense.”

“Your Highness, my first concern is the citizens and the United Republic, and so many of them have been forced out of their homes and have nowhere to go. I’m trying to get them into a permanent residence as fast as possible, and want your support with that.”

Yua was silent for a moment before she placed her cup back down on the table and stood. “My answer is no. We have sent food. We have sent shelters to house these people. We have even sent some of our own to help distribute these resources and be of assistance any way they can. If you think this is not sufficient enough, then you can take it up with Fire Lord Izumi, but I guarantee you, the answer is going to be the same.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Princess Yua.” President Moon stood as well, and extended her hand to the princess. “I hope we can change your mind. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.”

“We’ll see,” Yua said as she took the president’s hand and shook it firmly. “Thank you for the invitation. I look forward to working with you in the future.” With that, she left the room and Bolin walked her to the foyer.

\-----

Yua was having lunch with Tenzin and his family. Rohan sat comfortably in her lap as he shoved his mouth with as much food as possible. With Meelo pouting and pushing around the food on his place since Ikki and Rohan took up most of the pretty woman’s attention. The second oldest air child bombarded the princess with questions, and Jinora would chime in every once and a while with a question of her own. Even Rohan attempted to join in with the conversation. Though, it usually ended up being nothing but a jumbled mess as he tried to talk around his mouthful of food.

“What’s it like being a princess?” Ikki asked excitedly. “I bet you have the prettiest clothes, and all the cute boys wanting your attention.”

Yua handed Rohan a small piece of her bread before answering. “It’s actually pretty busy. A princess has a lot of responsibilities. And no boys.”

“No boys? But what’s the point of being a princess if you can’t date all the cute boys?!” Ikki protested. Tenzin looked at his youngest daughter skeptically.

“Princesses aren’t all about shiny things and cute boys, Ikki.” Jinora told her plainly.

“Yes it is!” Ikki argued.

Yua chuckled. “Shiny things aren’t really my thing, Ikki. Unless you’re talking about swords.” Pema’s eyes widened at the conversation choice.

“Swords?” Jinora asked curiously. “I’ve read about a lot of Fire Nation citizens that specialized in different non-bending fighting forms. Why would you need swords?”

“Well…” Yua thought about it for a moment as she handed Rohan some rice. “My grandfather was very good with dual swords, and he was a firebender like the rest of my family. My grandmother though, she was a non-bender that fought with throwing knives and the like. So, I guess it’s kind of a family tradition. Learning non-bending fighting styles.”

Meelo placed his hands on the table and leaned over it enthusiastically. “I want a sword! When are we gonna get swords?!”

“We’re pacifists, Meelo. You don’t need a sword,” Tenzin replied calmly as he continued to eat.

“Do you throw knives?” Ikki asked.

“No, but my mom does. I prefer dual swords like my grandfather.” Yua replied, and before Ikki could ask another question, she added something else. “And no, I don’t have them with me. It’s not very professional to bring weapons on diplomatic trips.”

Ikki crossed her arms and pouted slightly. “That’s no fun.”

“I told you being a princess was more than shiny things and cute boys.” Jinora said. To which Ikki stuck out her tongue at her sister.

“Yeah! It’s about kicking butt!” Rohan decided to join in and his parents chuckled.

Yua smiled and bent forward to give the four year old a gentle kiss on his cheek. “That’s right, Rohan. Kicking butts and taking names.”

When everyone was done eating, Pema stood and started collecting dishes. “Yua, would you mind helping me with the dishes?” She asked.

“Of course not.” With that, Yua lifted Rohan from her lap, and set his feet on the ground beside her

“Mommy, can we help with the dishes?” Ikki asked. All she really wanted was more time with the princess.

“You’ll have plenty of time to ask her questions later,” Pema said, seeing right through what the girl was trying to do. “And besides, you have training to get to."

“Aww!” Despite her protest, Ikki stood. “See you later, Princess Yua!”

“It was nice talking to you,” Jinora gave a small wave.

Meelo stood as proud and tall as a young boy could. “Bye pretty princess. We shall meet again another day.” Then darted from the room.

Rohan gave a simple, “Bye bye” and wave before he ran after his siblings.

“Not so fast, Rohan!” Tenzin called after the youngest. He however, didn’t seem to be in much of a rush as he stepped up to the princess. “Thank you for making time for us, Yua. I know you must be busy, and we appreciate it.”

Yua smiled. “We may not be the best at keeping in touch, but we are practically family. Just don’t be such strangers, and try to pay us a visit every once and awhile. Mom would definitely appreciate it.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” he assured her.

By that time Pema had already gathered up most of the dishes, so Yua quickly grabbed the rest and headed to the kitchen to help with the washing and drying. Pema put her in charge of drying and putting away, so she used her firebending to heat the dishes and dry them faster.

“You know,” Pema began, “the kids seem to really like you. I don’t know what you did, but usually it’s so hard to get Rohan to sit down, and Jinora is the only one that really sits still.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s just them having someone new to focus on. I appreciate their curiosity. I’ll have to send them some things from back home when I return.”

“Even so, it was a nice change. A peaceful meal compared to the typical chaos I’m used to.”

“I’m sure airbenders come with their own challenges, but at least you never have to worry about them burning down their rooms,” Yua joked.

Pema chuckled. “That is very true. Mine are just full of energy, and constantly running around.”

By the time Yua had to leave and head to her next engagement, she had made sure to say one final goodbye to Tenzin and his family, as well as the newer airbenders of the Air Nation. She promised she would try to stop by at least once more during her time in Republic City. Especially to answer more of the questions the kids had for her. To which, she told them to write them all down so they wouldn’t forget a single question they wanted an answer to. Then she was off to take care of professional matters.

\-----

Checking her watch, she groaned at the time. Yua stretched until her back popped. It was late. Far later than it should have been, but her talks with some of Republic City’s most influential entrepreneurs had run long. Asami Sato had left long ago, but Varrick was almost incapable of shutting up. So, to not be seen as rude, she suffered through his never ending rambling until the staff informed them, and the few other stragglers in their group, that the restaurant was closing, and they needed to leave. So now she stood alone on the street as she leaned against the wall of a building not far from the restaurant. The block was relatively empty and abandoned for how late it was. She pulled out a cigarette and its holder, lit it up, and took a deep drag from it to center herself. 

Yua watched carefully as a few men dressed in greys and greens drew closer to her. “Smoking isn’t very ladylike.” One of them said as they stalked closer, a predatory look in his eyes. ”Your Highness.”

She eyed them, but didn’t say anything. There were five that she was able to see. She took a deep, long drag of her cigarette then expelled the smoke in the face of the closest man. Yua inhaled once more before fire shot from her mouth and towards the others. They all reared back in surprise. She then took that as an opportunity to grab one of them by the neck with a fire whip, and pulled him to the ground in front of her. Her hand rose up to grab someone else, but the fire whip died in her hand as a rock collided with her wrist, and pinned her to a nearby wall. She groaned as she hit the wall, but pulled a knife from her pants and jammed it into the rock, successfully breaking it and freeing herself.

“We don’t want to hurt you, Princess.” The supposed leader said once he was done coughing the smoke from his lungs.

“You’re definitely worth more if we keep that pretty face just the way it is,” another said. His steps drew closer once more.

Yua offered her assailants a wicked smile as she instinctively got into a defensive stance. She was never one to turn down a fight. Especially when it came to threats. “This pretty face can take some damage.”

The man scowled, and another sent a line of jagged rocked from the ground up at her. Yua jumped to dodge it. When she landed a large rock flew her way, but this time she stood her ground. She gathered up her energy and shot lightning directly at the rock. It shattered into pieces and hit one of the men in the shoulder.

The earthbenders bombarded the princess with all manner of earth, and she fired back at them, blow for blow. One managed to hit her in the head, sending her hard to the ground, just barely catching herself and keeping her head from hitting the ground. She couldn’t help the growl that escaped her lips as she moved to get up. Before she could, her hands and feet were covered completely in earth. Yua struggled to break free of the restraints, though she knew it would likely be of no use.  
“Well, that took longer than I thought it would.” One of the goons huffed as all the men stepped closer to the restrained princess.

When they got close enough, Yua took a deep breath, and used as much force as she could to spit fire at them. Some yelped back in surprise. One even let out an ‘oh shit’. However, the leader simply scowled once more as he stepped back slightly. When the fire died from her lips, he sent a piece of earth towards her head, and successfully used it to muzzle her.

“Fucking dragons,” he muttered bitterly, before he turned to the other men and started barking orders. “Get her into the car. And don’t go damaging her anymore than necessary. We don’t want the crown paying for damaged goods. And you two, clean this up.”

Two of the men got to work cleaning up the street. As they put back all the misplaced earth, and fixed any damages, the other two lifted and threw the princess in the back of their car. Despite her struggling, they were able to maneuver her easily with her feet and hands being completely restrained. In the end, the street looked almost as good as it had before. As if nothing had even happened in the practically abandoned city block.


	5. To The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the princess' kidnapping, the Republic City Police are determined to find her before the worst happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another chapter down, and another thanks to toxiclove7 for continuing to help me proofread. Apologies for any mistakes we may have missed.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

It was a little after lunchtime when General Iroh came marching into the precinct. Once he saw Mako at his desk, he made a beeline for him. It was evident that he was on a mission, and everyone steered clear of his path. However, Mako didn’t seem to notice him until he was standing in front of his desk.

“General Iroh, sir.” Mako stood and saluted the man even though there was absolutely no reason to do so. However, Iroh practically ignored the greeting.

“Have you seen my sister? I heard she’s been spending some time with you and your friends.”

“Not since a few nights ago. Why? Is everything alright?”

“She was supposed to meet me for lunch today, and had a meeting with Republic City’s Cultural Society this morning, and didn’t show to either.”

“Maybe she got distracted or sidetracked with something else,” he suggested. “I mean, she doesn’t seem very one-track minded.”

“Being late is one thing, but my sister does not miss important meetings,” Iroh replied coolly before his face dropped slightly. “Especially not when it’s between the two of us.”

“Uh…” Mako wasn’t really sure what to say to that. He certainly didn’t want to upset Iroh more than he already was. “Maybe the chief can help. Doesn’t she have Yua’s itinerary? So she’d have where her last whereabouts should be.”

Without another word, the general walked to the chief’s office and knocked on the door. Mako followed quickly behind and stood off to the side of Iroh.

“What do you wa-“ Lin was about to snap at whoever decided to bother her. That is, until she saw who was on the other side of the door. “General Iroh. What can I help you with?”

“Yua is missing. I need to find out where she is.”

There was silence as she glanced between the general and her junior detective. She moved to the side to give them room to enter. “Come on in.” The door closed behind them as she unlocked the safe in her office and placed Yua’s itinerary on her desk.

Iroh snatched up the document before Mako could even think about making a move for it. “Says here that she was at dinner with some pretty influential people last night. Ten of them total, including herself, Asami Sato, Iknik Blackstone Varrick, and the CEO of Cabbage Corp.”

“Where was this dinner?” Mako asked.

“One of the higher-end restaurants in the Earth District. A pretty common meeting place for business affairs. Or so I’m told.”

“You’ve never been?” For some reason, Mako found that hard to believe. General or not, Iroh was still a prince.

“Yua’s the one that works with people, not me.”

A silence fell in the room as Lin studied the map on the wall. “Isn’t that near the Terra Triad’s territory?” Mako suggested.

“You think she was taken by gang members?” Iroh asked, seemingly appalled by the idea. His gaze focused on the younger man. “My sister knows how to protect herself.”

“Maybe so,” Lin began as she considered the possibility, “but put anyone against all those earthbenders, and their odds aren’t good.”

Again, another silence fell over the room as the three tried to determine what to do, or even if the speculation was enough to go off of. A soft knock came to the door before it opened to reveal another officer. “Telegraph for you, Chief Beifong.” He handed her the message, and immediately left the room. The room was silent as Lin read over the message. Her brow furrowing and a scowl forming on her face as she read.

“You’re going to want to read this,” Lin huffed as she handed Iroh the message.

“The Princess of the Fire Nation is safe and will remain so as long as all parties involved cooperate,” Iroh read out loud. “It is a courtesy that we extend this to you. The Princess will be released if 500,000 yuan is dropped off at Lord Zuko’s feet at Central City Station within forty-eight hours. If not, we will go to the Fire Lord directly, and will no longer be able to guarantee the princess’ safety.” His jaw clenched and he practically slammed the paper down on Lin’s desk when he was finished reading. “I’m going to kill them,” he seethed.

A part of Mako wanted to reach out and comfort the general but thought better of it, not wanting his anger turned on him just for trying to help. “What do we do, Chief?”

Lin sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “Well, we need to keep this under wraps. Keep this to only the people that need to know. We should investigate her last known whereabouts. While Iroh works on gathering up the ransom they’re asking for?”

“You want me to entertain this idea?!” Iroh scowled at the very idea. “They’re not getting anything from me aside from a trip to the hospital!”

“It’s just a backup plan,” she assured. “The last thing we want is this getting back to your mother, and her potentially bringing a militia with her. Worst case scenario, they get what they want and release Yua. Best case, we find her before then.”

“And what if they don’t release her, and go to my mother regardless?”

“General Iroh, sir,” Mako interjected. “I think Chief Beifong is right. The press has been all over your sister’s arrival, and if they see you going on a rampage through the city to find her, they’ll figure something’s wrong. And if those that took her see that you’re gathering money, they’ll be more focused on you and making sure you do what they want.”

Iroh sighed as he ran a hand over his face. “I guess I don’t have much of a choice. But I expect to be updated regularly. I will not be left in the dark when it comes to her safety.”

“We’ll find her, Iroh,” Lin assured once more.

\-----

“This is where she was last night,” Lin said as she looked over towards the restaurant Yua had a reservation at the night prior. “Let’s take a look around and see what we can find.”

The small group, composed of Chief Beifong, Mako, and a handful of other officers, got to surveying the area for any clues. Knowing the direction that her hotel was in, he started in the direction Yua would have had to walk. Nothing was too out of the ordinary until he noticed something jutting out of a wall. As he took a closer look, he realized two slightly curved pieces of earth. Each of them curving towards the other. He continued his search down that path and saw some scorched signs and wooden stands not too far from where he saw the rocks.

“What happened here?” He asked one of the nearby shopkeepers.

The elder man shrugged. “You got me. Probably some kids roughhousing or street thugs.”

“Did you notice anything strange last night?”

The man shook his head. “Nope. Pretty quiet. Most people around here know nothing good comes about when you stay out too late.”  
Well, that wasn’t very helpful. Still, Mako thanked the man and let him continue on with his work without further interruptions. Then he called Chief Beifong over to take a look at what he had found.

“It’s not much to go off of,” she sighed as she surveyed the immediate surroundings. “Hold on.” Something on the ground glinted in the sunlight. Kneeling down, she picked it up and turned it around in her fingers.

“What’s that?”

“Cigarette holder; and it definitely belongs to the princess.” It was a small thin rod, roughly four inches long, designed to hold a cigarette. A dragon carved into the gold wrapped around the entire length, with its head near the top of the holder.

Mako was about to speak when Lin’s radio went off. “Got some interesting information on the Terra Triads, Chief.” She grabbed the radio and told the person on the other end to continue. “Turns out three of their guys showed up at the hospital this morning with some serious burns. Won’t say how though.”

“Course they won’t. Are they still there?”

“They’re being monitored by the healers until tomorrow morning.”

“Good. We’ll make our way over.” With that, Lin and Mako headed to the hospital. The chief told the rest of the officers to stay where they were and continue to search for other possible clues. They need to follow any leads they could find.

When the two got to the hospital, they went straight to the room where the triad members were being held and monitored. Sure enough, the three looked a mess. One, Ru, had severe second-degree burns around his neck and right arm. The second, Shan, had his burns centered around his torso. The last one, Dequan, didn’t have any burns, but instead had bright red marks that started from his shoulder and out towards other parts of his body; up his neck, down his arm, and chest. Mako and Lin shared a look at the sight of the three.

“Oh great,” Shan said bitterly. “What do you want?”

“Why came to ask you some questions about a disappearance last night,” Lin said with a cool calm.

“We don’t know anything about any disappearances,” Ru said.

Mako stepped forward and grabbed Ru by his bandages. “Really? Cause I think you do, and I suggest you start talking before those burns go from second to third-degree.” To emphasize his point, a fire dagger formed from his fist and he held it close to Ru’s neck.

Lin allowed the threat to continue as she crossed her arms and spoke. “Princess Yua. Princess of the Fire Nation. Know anything about her?”

“No,” Ru spat.

Mako intensified his flame. “Try again.”

“I’m telling you! We don’t know nothing about no princess!”

Lin huffed and turned her attention to Dequan. “What about you? Burns can come from anywhere, but your kind of injury is pretty rare.”

“Open power lines are a mess to deal with,” Dequan replied coolly.

“I’m not here to play games, Dequan. One of you is going to tell us where your new hideout is. Otherwise, you’ll be healing down at the precinct.”

“Yeah right. Why would we tell you that?”

“Because you saw an opportunity to earn some money and took it. I know the Terra Triad is low on funds. A princess is a pretty good way to collect a decent ransom if you do it right.” As he spoke, Mako moved his flame to touch Ru’s neck and kept it there, which also caught his bandages on fire. “But you chose the wrong target.”

Ru hissed as the fire touched his skin. Trying his best not to yell, but he eventually relented. “Okay! Okay! I’ll tell! Just stop!” Mako backed up and extinguished the fire. Breathing heavily, Ru continued. “We had to split our hideout into three when the spirit vines took over. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll tell you where they are.”

Once Mako and Beifong had the information they needed, they left, but not before Mako let a nearby healer know that one of the triad members had slipped his bandages. As he did that, Beifong had the three put under watch. As soon as they were in a good enough state to leave, they’d be sent straight to jail.

“Do you think she could be at one of these locations?” Mako asked as he took the passenger seat of the police car they had taken.

“There’s a good chance. They probably have some underground storage they could be keeping her in. The problem is, which one. If we go to any of their hideouts, we have to be right the first time. Otherwise, there’s no telling where they could take her. And we don’t have enough metalbenders to fully cover all three locations.”

“Wouldn’t they take her to the farthest one from where she was taken? I mean, it would be more likely for us to search one of the closer ones first.”

“I don’t know, Mako. That whole family is powerful and volatile at times. Especially her. I don’t think they’d be able to contain her that long without drawing suspicion. You saw the state those triad members were in.”

\-----

They eventually chose to focus on the closest location to where they believed Yua was taken. However, Beifong did set up smaller task forces of four officers each, two of them being a metalbender, to watch the other two hideouts. If they were wrong about the location, then those officers would storm in and handle any present triad members until reinforcements could arrive. The rest of the police force’s metalbenders prepared to raid the first location with Chief Beifong and Mako.

The raid went just as planned, and they didn’t experience much trouble. Despite the fact that Mako was the only firebender amongst earthbender cops and thugs, he helped to lead the charge, right behind Chief Beifong. It didn’t take too long for everyone to be subdued and restrained. They had even managed to keep any of them from warning the other hideouts.

“We’ve searched the whole area, Chief. No one is here.” One of the metalbending officers informed.

Beifong hummed for a moment before she closed her eyes and slammed her foot on the concrete floor. “There’s a hidden bunker. Open the floor up.” Her and Mako made their way down into the hidden bunker with a few metalbenders following as backup.

They searched the bunker filled with miscellaneous, unmarked boxes and crates. Yua was found unconscious, hidden behind some metal crates. Her hands and feet were completely wrapped in metal, and her mouth had a piece of metal wrapped around it as well. All looked to be crudely and quickly put together.

“Yua!” Mako quickly ran to the princess. He lowered himself to her and lifted her into his arms, one hand holding her head up. There was dried blood on her forehead, and her clothes were a complete mess; torn in some places, and burned in others. “Aren’t you going to get her out of these?” He asked as he looked at her restraints, and then back up at Lin.

“Wake her up first. Otherwise she’ll try to attack us.”

He shifted her in his arms so that she was leaning on him. Her head on his shoulder and his arm holding her from behind. He tried to gently shake her so that he wouldn’t disturb any wounds he couldn’t see. When that didn’t work, his attempts became more forceful. Eventually, she jerked awake, and out of his arms. Prepared to fight despite the very few options she had.

“Princess,” Mako began softly. “It’s okay.”

When realization dawned on her face, her restraints fell from her hands, feet, and mouth. Mako stood, and bent down slightly, offering his hand to her to help her stand. Yua, however, didn’t take it. Instead, despite the effort it took, she lifted herself off the ground and stood. She groaned, and her hand went to her side as she winced in pain.

“Where are they?” Yua asked.

“What happened?” Lin ignored the princess’ question.

“Dinner meeting went late last night. I decided to have a smoke a block or two down the road before trying to flag down a taxi when these five guys tried to jump me. They were able to keep me from fire bending by wrapping me in stone, but I kept breaking them on anything I could. They eventually knocked me out. I guess they replaced the stone restraints with metal ones while I was out, and threw me in here.” There was a pause before she added, “Now, where are they?”

“All of the Terra Triad at this location are currently being hauled onto police trucks. They’ll be taken to the station, and put on trial for kidnapping.”

“Great. Good. But that’s not what I care about. I want at least one of the bastards that attacked me brought in front of me so that they can pay for what they did.”

“Yua…” Mako started softly. “You don’t need to do that. We’ll make sure that justice is served.”

He placed a comforting hand on her arm, and she pulled away harshly. “Don’t touch me,” she spat before her attention returned to Lin. “They spilt blood. I deserve retribution.”

“You’ve already had enough retribution,” Lin replied simply. “You put up a fight, and sent three of their men to the hospital.”

“I want to look them in the face and show them how they made a mistake,” Yua hissed.

Mako took his chance to interject. “You need to heal, Princess. Once you’ve been looked at by our healer, then maybe you and the chief can talk about it some more.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. Yet despite her words, she followed the officers out of the bunker and out into the streets, where a majority of the present triad members were already stuffed in police cars. Mako had tried to assist her as she walked, as he noticed the slight tilt in her stride, but she only pushed him away every time, causing her face to contort in pain, so he stopped trying to help.

One of the officers produced a cylinder of rock from the ground to give Yua something to sit on as their healer looked her over. Mako was by her side the whole time.

Yua huffed, drawing Mako’s divided attention to her. “You don’t have to hover,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been watching me like a hawk ever since I woke up. I’m sure Chief Beifong would have a better use for you.”

“I’m worried. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Well, don’t be.” Yua’s tone was harsh and cold as she spoke. “I’m a big girl. So just let the healer do his job.”

An awkward silence fell over them since Mako didn’t know what to say. He still stayed by her side though, watching her carefully. Eventually, the tension was broken as someone called Yua’s name. She stood almost immediately, and a familiar uniform with black hair wrapped its arms around her.

Yua hissed. “Ease up,” she said as she patted him on the back.

Iroh pulled away with a soft apology but kept hold of her upper arm with one hand. His other hand went to her face as he studied her. “I was so worried. You look like you’ve been through hell.”

“Wow. Thanks for the self-esteem boost. I thought I looked great,” she replied sarcastically. “I’m fine.”

“She has a fractured rib, but all her other wounds are external,” the healer interjected. “It shouldn’t take long for me to get through it all. Though, she might be sore for the next few days.”

Iroh thanked the man and he got to work. He pulled his healing water out of a pouch on his hip and focused on Yua’s lower back, where most of the bone fracture was located. This allowed the siblings to stay close.

“I can’t believe this happened.” Iroh sounded defeated.

Yua opened her mouth to speak, but Mako beat her to it. “It’s not your fault,” he assured him as he stepped up to the pair. “The Terra Triad has been desperate to fix their money issues, so they were willing to try anything. I wasn’t there, but your sister obviously put up a fight. She’s a force to be reckoned with. Sent three of her five attackers to the hospital.”

Iroh smiled widely at that, but Yua stared at Mako suspiciously. “I would expect nothing less,” Iroh said proudly. “Thank you, Mako. For everything.”

“Of course.” Mako gave a respective nod before leaving the siblings and heading to Beifong’s side. He figured they could use the time with each other as the healer tended to Yua’s wounds. Besides, he had work to do.


	6. Sore Spot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after her rescue, and Princess Yua may not be in the best of moods. Yet Mako has been ordered to guard her throughout the day, and he takes his job serious. Will these two immovable forces be able to still get along, or will they clash yet again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I of course want to thank toxiclove7 for helping me proofread and edit this chapter.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy!

Yua awoke in her hotel room in the morning and struggled to get out of bed. Her body was still sore from what had happened the previous day, and it made it difficult for her to move. She was fully healed, but she just needed to let her body rest. Eventually. Since she had missed a whole day of meetings and engagements, she was forced to make them up on her intended day off before she left for home the next day.

She got dressed as best she could, and made sure that she looked perfectly presentable before making her way down to the hotel lobby. It was there that someone greeted her as soon as she exited the elevator.

“Princess Yua,” Mako greeted as he started walking in step with her.

“Detective Mako,” she greeted politely. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’ll be accompanying you today.”

Yua stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. “What?”

“With everything that’s happened, Chief Beifong thought it best if someone accompany you throughout your last day in the city,” Mako informed her.

“Does she now?” Yua crossed her arms in front of her, not at all pleased with this new turn of events. “Well, I’ll have to thank her for her concern, but it’s not necessary. You are dismissed, Detective.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Your Highness. Chief Beifong stressed the utmost importance of making sure that no other incidents happen during the rest of your stay.”

“Fine,” she huffed as she turned to start walking again. “I need to go to the Fire Nation Cultural Center and speak with its heads.”

“I know,” Mako replied simply as he followed right behind her.

Something so simple shouldn’t have gotten on her nerves as much as it did, but the princess was already stressed and on edge enough as it was. His simple statement only managed to grind her gears. Yua turned around to face Mako once more, a forced smile on her face.

“Let’s get a few things straight, Detective. If you truly do plan on following me around the whole day, you will keep your distance and stay quiet. Especially when I’m in important, professional meetings. I will not have you breathing down my neck or trying to carry on a casual conversation when I have no mood for such things. Am I clear?”

Mako straightened his back instinctively and nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“And because I know these are going to be asked at some point throughout the day: No, I don’t want to talk about what happened. As far as you’re concerned, nothing did happen. No, I do not need your help. With anything. And yes, I’m fine.”

With that, the two finally made their way out of the hotel and flagged down a taxi. The ride to the cultural center was quiet and full of tension. At least from Mako’s end. He couldn’t help but notice how Yua sat stiff and perfect as she stared out the window. Her expression was unreadable with her lips set in a straight line. He had tried to help her out of the taxi when they had arrived at their destination, but she ignored him.

“You know, I’ve never been here before,” Mako noted as he stared up at the building.

“Shame,” Yua replied flatly, making her way up the stairs to the entrance. “Perhaps you can have a look around while I do what I need to.”

“I’m not supposed to leave your side, Princess.”

“No. What you will not do, is be in my way. You’ll stay at the edge of the room, or peruse the building. At my side, you’ll only serve as an unneeded distraction.”

Mako was about to retort when an older man with a beaming smile made his way to them as soon as he spotted them.

“Princess Yua!” The man greeted excitedly. Taking Yua’s hand, he shook it with both of his. “It’s so good to see you. How’s your mother doing?”

“It’s always a pleasure, Professor.” Yua smiled brightly. So much that it was reflected in her eyes. “Mother is doing just fine, thank you. I’m terribly sorry about yesterday. I hope you can forgive me for the lack of notice.”

“Oh, not to worry, my dear.” The man waved off her concern as he started to lead her to his office. “Family matters come first, and you know I’ll make time for you and your family whenever you ask.”

They made it to the professor’s office, and Yua glanced at Mako before she entered. “Stay outside the door,” she ordered. If he was going to follow her every move, then she might as well be the one in charge. She was not going to have him getting in the way.

“I really should go in with you,” Mako protested, not liking the idea of leaving her side.

“Even royal guards know to stay out of closed rooms. Are you saying you have less decorum and know more than a royal guard?”

“Not at all, Your Highness. I just-”

“Then, at the very least, stay outside.”

There was no room for Mako to negotiate as Yua stepped into the professor’s office and the door closed behind them. Mako stood outside the room in semi-annoyed silence as he leaned against the wall and waited for the two to come back out. Yua and the professor talked about numerous things regarding the cultural center and Fire Nation culture as a whole. Such as, the state of the center, how certain artifacts were holding up, what types of events were being planned, etc.

When they finally did exit the office and said their goodbyes, it was getting close to midday, and Yua realized that she should probably eat. As well as feed her unwanted companion. However, she still had other meetings to make. So instead of stopping to sit down and eat lunch, she quickly made a stop at a street vendor and bought some food on a stick for both her and Mako. She handed off some of the food to him and continued on her way with Mako rushing behind her.

“I thought princesses had to sit down to eat,” Mako said when he caught back up to her and was able to walk at her side once more.

Yua took a hearty bite from her food. She made sure to swallow before speaking. “If you don’t like how I do things, then go back to being a detective.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just…” He wasn’t even sure what he had meant. Just that it wasn’t that. “It doesn’t seem to fit the image of royalty…”

“You’re right,” she replied sarcastically. “Maybe stabbing you with this skewer would help me with my image.”

Mako was silent after that. Instead, he chose to shove his face with the kabobs that she had bought him for their lunch. When they were done with their food and at their next destination, Yua took the wooden skewers and burned them to ash.

The rest of the day went similarly, with Mako trying to be attentive to the princess and their surroundings while Yua tried her best to ignore him. He would try to spark up a conversation or just make friendly notes regarding their surroundings, and she would just reply with cold, dry, or sarcastic remarks. As the day went on, Yua became more and more aggravated by his presence and his never-ending need to feel helpful. He wasn’t helpful. He was a nuisance and the last thing she wanted after the day she had prior.

Yua’s last piece of business for the day was to have dinner with Iroh, but Mako still would not leave her side even after she told him what her destination was. She thought he’d leave her once he realized she’d be safe with her brother soon enough, but even that didn’t sway him. Mako was seemingly determined to stick by her side, saying he would be with her until he knew she was safely with Iroh. She didn’t even bother to fight or hide her groan of annoyance at this point.

Yua moved to cross the street when a car came barreling down the road. It was a few feet from them as they stood on the curb, so she saw no reason as to not start her trek across. Yet the moment both her feet hit the road, Mako grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back onto the sidewalk.

“What is wrong with you?” Mako’s voice was a mixture of concern and anger. “Are you in that much of a rush that you can’t pay attention to the road?!”

Yua glared at him. “Me?! That car would have been long gone by the time I even got close to it! I was fine! You’re one that’s been losing his mind over every little thing.”

“You’re the one that’s been irritable and unpleasant all day.”

“Maybe it’s because you’ve been breathing down my neck the whole day, and a general nuisance since the moment I woke up.”

“Well, I’m so very sorry for being an inconvenience to you, Your Highness,” Mako replied sarcastically. “I didn’t realize putting your safety first was such an issue.”

Yua bristled at that. “My safety is not your concern!”

“It is when you apparently can’t be in the city by yourself without someone trying to take advantage of that.”

“I don’t need a babysitter. So why don’t you just go back to the precinct and tell Chief Beifong that your little side project is finished? Because you’re done here.” Yua turned to storm away down the street, but Mako grabbed a hold of her wrist as he spun her back around.

“You listen here. I’m not-” Before he could finish what he was saying, she had ripped her arm from his grasp and was holding a hand full of fire very close to his face.

“No,” she hissed. Her tone was cold and calculating as she continued to speak. “You listen, Detective. I will not be spoken to like an insolent little child when all you’ve done is disregard the very rules I set at the beginning of the day. I am not your, or anyone else’s, concern. You do not tell me what to do, how to act, or how to feel. So either you leave my presence, or I’ll burn that pretty little face of yours.” She extinguished the fire in her hand and made her escape as Mako stood staring after her with a mix of shock and fear.

Yua made her way to Central City Station. She stood in front of Zuko’s statue and looked up at him as best she could. Standing tall and proud, and young. A part of her desperately wished he was there, but knew she’d be going home in the morning, and would get to see him soon enough. She took a deep breath, climbed onto the base of the statue, and took a seat at Zuko’s feet. The princess had the urge to take out a cigarette and have a smoke, but she controlled herself. She was trying to quit, after all, and she refused to smoke without her cigarette holder. Which she had conveniently lost. So she held her hands out in front of her and created a small flame in her hands. Meditating instead of giving in to the desire to light up.

That was where, after a few cops and passersby had tried to disturb her, Iroh found her a few hours later. He didn’t immediately interrupt her meditating. Instead, he just watched her, but she knew he was there. Nothing was said until he stepped closer to the statue, and stood at the base.

“When Mako said you had run off, and you didn’t show up for dinner, I figured you’d be here,” Iroh said as he looked up at his sister.

“Tell him to mind his own business,” Yua replied bitterly.

Iroh sighed, shaking his head. Even though Yua’s eyes were still closed and she couldn’t see him. “Why do you have to do this? He was just trying to help.”

Yua huffed and dropped her hands. The fire went out immediately as she looked down at Iroh. “I didn’t ask for their help. Is it so much to ask to go about my last day in the city in peace?”

“Yua,” Iroh began sternly, but still holding softness in his voice. “You were taken. Lin thought it best to make sure you were taken care of for your last day.”

“Did you know she’d be sending one of her men to babysit me?”

He sighed yet again. “No. I had no idea until Mako showed up without you.”

“Then how is it okay for her to bombard me with that without so much as a word?” Yua’s voice was full of hurt and desperation as she spoke. “To be forced to just go along with what she says because she’s chief of police. It’s humiliating.” Tears started to fill her eyes and she tried her best to hold them back.

Iroh climbed up the base of their grandfather’s statue and sat down beside her. “Come here,” he said as he pulled her close. His arm wrapped around her shoulder as he pulled her head to rest on his shoulder, his free hand taking one of hers in his. “I know you hate it. I know you don’t like feeling weak, and people thinking you can’t take care of yourself. You can take care of yourself. Better than a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need people to look out for you. Having that doesn’t make you weak, or incapable. It makes you stronger.”

The very act of being held by her brother caused the tears to spill fully. “Easy for you to say. You don’t have all these people looking after you every second of the day. You’re the Crown Prince, and General of the United Forces. You get to strike fear in people just by being you. I’m tired of being the little girl that can’t take care of herself. The princess whose parents don’t think she can be without someone watching her.”

Iroh held her tighter. His hand that held hers moved to wipe at her tears and rest in her hair. “You’re not a little girl that can’t take care of herself. You’re Princess Yua. Daughter of Fire Lord Izumi and Fire Liege Kojin. Granddaughter of Lord Zuko and Lady Mai. You are a fierce dragon, and damn anyone who says otherwise. You are capable of dismantling nations if you wanted to. You are the jewel of the Fire Nation, with your unfathomable heart, and never-ending passion. You fight just because you can, and I feel sorry for anyone who underestimates your power.”

“You really think so?” She sounded pitiful to herself. Nothing like what a princess should sound like.

“Of course I do,” he assured her. “You’re an annoying brat sometimes, but you’re also one of the best things to happen to this world.”

Yua chuckled tearfully against his shoulder. She sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes since they had stopped coming. “Thanks. Jerk.”

“Anytime, brat. Now, come on. Someone made me miss dinner, so now I’m really hungry.” As Iroh spoke, he slid down from the base of the statue and stood on the ground. He offered his hand to her to help her down. She took it and slid off the statue to stand beside him.

“I should probably apologize to Mako and Lin, huh?” She asked as they started walking alongside each other.

Iroh shrugged and gave her a playful smile. “I don’t think it’s that important, do you? I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“You’re the worst.” Still, she agreed that it was something to worry about at a later time. Right now, she just wanted to spend the rest of her night with her brother and forget about the last few days.


	7. Leaving Republic City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yua leaves Republic City, and Mako is left with his thoughts. An exciting offer gets put on the table as all of the Krew but Mako writes to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a slow chapter, but not everything can be super exciting. I hope you still enjoy it though.
> 
> As always, thanks to toxiclove7 for helping me proofread this chapter.

Mako stood at the docks as the morning sun shone down on him and everyone else that had come to see Princess Yua off. Bolin was expressing how excited he was to actually have a penpal, though he hadn’t prepared his first letter this time like he had with Korra. Opal mentioned how they needed to get their families together at some point. Asami and Korra talked about planning a trip to the Fire Nation in the future. Jinora gave Yua a list of questions for her to research and get back to her at some point. Ikki and Meelo wanted to go with her, much to their parents’ disapproval. Rohan kept trying to be close to the princess and hold her hand, forcing Pema to pick him up and hold him so that he wouldn’t accidentally sneak off.

“I wish your trip could have been better spent, but it was good to see you after all these years,” Tenzin said. “You’ve come a long way from the teenager I remember.”

“I don’t know if I should take that as an insult or not,” Yua joked. She made her way over to where Lin and Mako were standing and bowed respectfully. “Chief Beifong.”

“So it’s Chief now? When you first got here, it was Aunt Lin.” Before Yua could reply, Lin pulled out a small package. “Give this to your mom for me, will you?”

“I will,” she assured her as she tucked the package away.

“Oh, and one more thing. You might want this back.” Lin held out Yua’s cigarette holder to her.

“Thank goodness,” Yua sighed in relief as she took the gold rod. “I was starting to feel a headache coming on.”

Lin smiled. “Have a safe trip, kid.”

The princess then turned to Mako. “Detective Mako,” she greeted as she stood tall and held her hands behind her back. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I was stressed and irritated, and I took that out on you. It was unfair of me to do so.”

He’d be lying if he said the apology didn’t surprise him. Mako half expected her to act as if yesterday hadn’t happened. “Oh, uh… It’s alright. I probably didn’t help things much either. I mean, you did give me ground rules and I practically did everything I could to ignore them. So… truce?” Mako extended his hand to her.

Yua looked down at his offered hand before looking back up at him with the subtlest of smiles on her face. She took his hand and shook it firmly. “Truce.”

“Princess,” the ship’s captain called. “We should be on our way soon if we want to keep to schedule.”

“Of course, Captain.” Yua dropped Mako’s hand and gave everyone a small wave.

Mako watched as Iroh pulled her into a tight hug which she whole-heartedly returned. It was at that moment that his brain decided to point out how beautiful the royal siblings were, with their jet black hair, gold eyes, and perfectly tailored clothes. He was fairly certain that there was nothing they could do that would ever make them look bad. A part of him was a little envious, but another part of him also never wanted to stop looking.

“Be safe,” Iroh said as he pulled away from his sister.

“I will. I’ll have the whole royal guard looking after me in your stead,” she teased.

“Don’t be a brat,” he warned with a roll of his eyes. “And don’t go giving Mom and Dad too many headaches.”

Yua placed her hand over her heart in mock offense. “Who? Me? Their perfect little angel? I would never.”

“Sure you wouldn’t.” Iroh gently pushed her towards the ship. “Now get going before the captain yells at you again.”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Yua gave one more wave to the group and boarded the ship.

Korra, Asami, Bolin, Opal, and Lin left soon after that, but the rest stayed to watch the ship pull out of the harbor. Iroh patted Mako on the shoulder when he turned to leave. Mako gave him a tight-lipped smile in return. He stared off into the horizon for a little while longer before leaving as well.

\-----

It had been a few weeks since Yua returned to the Fire Nation, and while some had written to her a few times and already received replies, Mako had not. He wasn’t sure what was keeping him from writing to the princess. Sure, she was intimidating, but he’d seen his fair share of intimidating people. Maybe he was just nervous. Maybe he just didn’t want to bother her. She had a lot more to worry about than replying to letters from someone she barely knew. Yet she seemed to reply to Bolin decently fast. Though, a part of him did really want to write to her. Wanted to hear about what she was doing, and what her day to day was like. He wanted to ask her so many questions, but they always abandoned him whenever he tried to pick up a pen and start writing. Mako just didn't know where to start, but he really wanted to. It was in times like this he desperately wished he was able to throw caution to the wind like Bolin.

“What do you even talk about?” Mako finally asked his brother one day as he opened his newest letter from the princess.

Bolin shrugged. “Pro-bending. How things are in the city. Day to day life. You.”

“Me?” Mako wasn’t even able to hide the shock in his voice. “Why would you be talking about me?”

“ ‘Cause you’re my brother, and she gets curious. Especially since you haven’t written her when the rest of us have. I told her all about Grandma Yin, our cousins, Mom and Dad…”

“Wait. You told her about Mom and Dad? Why would you do that?” That was incredibly personal information to be sharing.

“She asked why none of us have visited the Fire Nation. So I told her we just haven’t, but that Mom’s from there and I’d like to see where she grew up. Maybe we have more family out there, and it’d be nice to meet them.”

“And what did she say to that?”

“I don’t know. That would be in this letter.” Silence fell over the brothers as Bolin started reading his letter from Yua. Then, suddenly, Bolin jumped in his seat excitedly.

Mako stared at his brother. “What is it?”

“Yua says she’ll help with finding Mom’s hometown, and any relatives she might have! Isn’t that great?!” Bolin looked over at Mako to gauge his excitement.

“Yeah. That sounds great, Bo, but what if there’s nothing to find? And do you just plan to hop on a boat to the Fire Nation if there is?”

Bolin’s expression faltered slightly. “But that’s the best part,” he replied indignantly. “She said that Iroh will be going to the Fire Nation next month and that we can all join him. You, me, Opal, Asami, Korra.”

“I highly doubt she cleared that with him first,” Mako huffed.

“But just think about how much fun it would be! It’s where Mom grew up! You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it before!”

Mako sighed. Bolin did have a point. It would be nice to see where their mom grew up. Especially since they got to see Ba Sing Se, and meet their dad’s side of the family. “Fine, but don’t make any plans or get your hopes up until I talk to Iroh.”

Bolin jumped from his seat so that he could go and hug Mako. “Thanks, Mako! You’re the best!”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied as he pushed Bolin off him.

\-----

General Iroh was in the middle of running drills with his troops, but Mako finally had a free moment, and the sooner he talked to the man, the sooner Bolin would get off his back. So he waited patiently while one of his officers got his attention. He watched as Iroh and the officer switched places and the officer continued with the drills as Iroh made his way over to him.

“What can I help you with, Mako?”

“Uh.” Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? “I was hoping we could sit down and talk about something.”

“Of course. We can speak in my cabin,” Iroh said as he started walking in that direction, and Mako followed. “What is this about anyway?”

“Your sister,” Mako replied simply.

“Ah, I see.” Iroh smiled cheekily. “So you’re here to ask for my blessing even though you’ve only been corresponding with her for a few weeks. That takes guts.”

Mako blanched at the accusation. “W-what? No! I haven’t even been writing to her! That’s all been Bolin!”

Iroh laughed. “Relax, Mako. I was only joking. Though, by your reaction, maybe there is some truth to it.”

“Oh. Right…” Mako’s face heated in embarrassment. He was thankful when they finally made it to Iroh’s cabin and needed to duck past him to enter as he held the door open.

The door closed with a click and Iroh made his way to sit behind his desk. He motioned for Mako to take a seat. “So, what is it about my sister that you wanted to talk about?”

“Well… She told Bolin that you were going to the Fire Nation sometime next month, and said we could all tag along. Come with you on your trip, that is.”

“Did she now? And I’m assuming when you say ‘we’, you mean you, your brother, and your friends.”

“Yes sir.” Mako nodded. “I figured she might not have told you, or run it by you. So I wanted to bring it up personally.”

“You’d be correct in thinking that,” Iroh affirmed. “Though, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“I’m sorry if it puts you in a bad position. I can tell Bolin tha-”

Iroh interrupted him with a wave of his hand as he spoke. “Don’t be ridiculous. Since you’re here, and she’s already offered, I would hate to make her go back on her word. So I am hereby _personally_ inviting you and your friends to come with me to the Fire Nation.”

Mako was stunned, unable to form words as he stared at the general blankly. “I, um… I…” He took the time to refocus himself before trying to speak again. “I don’t understand. I thought you’d shoot it down.” He had actually been hoping for him to say no.

“You thought I’d tell you no?” Mako nodded at his question. “Mako, if my sister wants you and your friends there, who am I to say no? I’d be a terrible brother for denying her that. Especially for her birthday.”

“Birthday?!” Again, Mako was stunned.

Iroh simply nodded. “It’s her birthday the week I’ll be going to the Fire Nation. I like to spend as much time with her as possible, but I’m glad she wants friends to be there. She doesn’t really have any.”

Mako furrowed his brow at that. “What do you mean, doesn’t have any? How can she not have friends? She’s…”

“Amazing. I know. But things aren’t that simple when you’re royalty. Some people only ever want anything to do with you because of the status you were born into. Always wanting something from you.” There was a pause as Iroh debated on whether he should continue or not. Eventually, he sighed. “I think you can see where I’m going with this.”

“I can,” Mako nodded.

So that evening, Mako gathered up the group for dinner and told them they would be taking a trip to the Fire Nation as per the request of the prince and princess. Needless to say, they were all excited and it was all any of them could talk about. Later that night, when Mako was alone with his thoughts, he finally sat down and wrote his first letter to the Princess of the Fire Nation. Unable to keep himself from overthinking every word and stroke of his pen.

* * *

_Princess Yua,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. I know you’ve been talking to Bolin and everyone else regularly, and I suppose I should apologize for never writing you. Truth be told, I never knew what to write or where to start. I mean, what do you write to a princess that probably has some of the most interesting stories? Bolin is a lot better at this kind of stuff. Maybe because he doesn’t tend to think about it too much. Anyway, that’s not important._

_I wanted to thank you for inviting my friends and I to your home. And for being willing to find out what you can about our mom. Though, you really don’t have to do that. Part of me feels like there’s probably nothing to find. I just don’t want you to waste your time on something that might not be worth it. Still, I know Bolin is excited, and I don’t want to ruin that for him. Just… don’t feel bad if there’s not much to tell._

_On a lighter note, I am looking forward to seeing you again. I only hope that this time isn’t filled with you yelling at me so much. I much prefer it when you’re laughing at me instead. Also, Iroh said that your birthday would be during our trip. Bolin and I don’t really have a lot at the moment, but I’d still like to know things you like. And maybe hear an interesting story or two that you have to share. Until then, I eagerly await your response, and for the day we can see each other again._

_Sincerely,_

_Detective Mako_

* * *


	8. Welcome to the Fire Nation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Krew arrives at the Fire Nation alongside Iroh, and are prepared to see what the nation is all about. It's a well needed vacation for all of them. Plus, they get to spend more time with the princess, and learn more about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't have time to really proofread this extensively, so I apologize for any mistakes.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it though!

The palace was buzzing as servants and guards alike prepared for their guests. Making sure that everything was clean and perfectly presentable. While Iroh’s return home wasn’t an odd or rare occurrence, others accompanying him were. The palace staff wanted everything to be in order well before everyone arrived. With the guest rooms cleaned and tidied, as well as making sure security was air tight. When everyone arrived, Zuko, Izumi and her husband, Kojin, and Yua were waiting for them at the entrance of the palace.

Iroh went down the line and gave each of his family members a hug before moving to introductions. “Mom. Dad. I’d like to introduce you to Avatar Korra, and her friends. Asami, Opal, Bolin, and Mako.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Izumi said with a small smile and bow. Which Kojin mirrored. “It’s not every day we have so many guests.”

“And so close to such a special occasion,” Zuko added. “Welcome to our home.”

Yua sighed softly. “They’re not here for that, grandpa. They wanted to see what the Fire Nation was all about. I offered to be their guide.”

“While we’re grateful for that, Princess Yua, we-” Before Korra could finish, Bolin interrupted her.

“Are so excited to spend your birthday with you!” Bolin said excitedly. “Though… I wasn’t sure what to get you... I was hoping to figure that out before then…”

Yua wasn’t sure what to say as she shared a look with Iroh, but her father, Kojin stepped in. “No gifts,” he insisted.

“Are you sure?” Asami stepped in. “We’d hate to be rude and not come prepared.”

“Of course we’re sure. Having friends of Yua’s here is enough of a gift.” As Kojin was talking, Yua muttered a comment about them not being her friends, but he acted as though he hadn’t heard her. “Which, you’ll be staying here, won’t you?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Korra replied.

“Wonderful! Yua said there were couples amongst you. So I hope you don’t mind sharing a room with your partner. If not, we can arrange for everyone to have their own room.” When everyone voiced their okay with sharing a room, Kojin clapped his hands together once. “Fantastic. I’ll be more than happy to show you all to your rooms. Then a tour of the palace. So you don’t get lost.”

“And if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with my children.” Izumi added.

“I’ll try to meet up with you guys during your tour, but this might take some time. So if I can’t, just meet me back here, and I’ll introduce you to Capital City.” Yua said. When everyone had nodded or said their agreement to the plan, they all went their separate ways.

Business had to be taken care of first before either Iroh or Yua could take the time to relax. Relations between the Fire Nation and the United Republic needed to be talked about. As well as a personal check up on her children. It was something they had gotten into the habit of doing ever since Iroh went off to the United Forces, and Yua started playing a more active role in the nation. Political and world standings were important, but Izumi also found it important to check in with her children in person. It was an unspoken rule in these moments that everyone in the room would be open, and honest. Izumi wanted no secrets between her family, and she’d do everything she could to make sure they felt safe and respected.

When the three of them were done with their political and personal talks, they went their own separate ways. Iroh to unpack and prepare for the week ahead of him. Izumi needed to continue her work as Fire Lord, and keeping the Fire Nation running smoothly. While Yua went to meet up with her guests. The talks with her mother and brother went on long enough that the palace tour had finished, and they were all waiting for her patiently by the palace entrance. Korra and Opal were practicing their airbending, while everyone else watched. Mako, of course, was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

“Sorry about that. I had a feeling that might go long.” Yua apologized as she made her way to the group.

“That’s alright,” Asami assured. “We’re not really in a rush anyway.”

Opal stopped her airbending, and spoke. “The palace is beautiful. It’s amazing how much history this place holds. Though, the Hall of Fire Lords is a little intimidating.”

Yua chuckled at that. “Fire Lords can be intimidating,” she agreed. “I think Iroh’s got that, and the seriousness, down to perfection. He’ll be a pro by the time he becomes Fire Lord.” The group laughed softly at that.

“So, what’s the plan?” Korra asked.

“I figured I’d show you the market square. It’s where all shops and restaurants are located in Capital City. Give you a good taste of life in the Fire Nation. Then we’ll come back here for dinner. I heard the chefs will be making a mix of cuisine from all nations.”

“They can do that?” Bolin asked a bit skeptically.

“He’s just worried there will be nothing but spicy food this week,” Mako interjected.

“Oh, I assure you,” Yua said. “We have chefs that can handle all manner of cuisine. Plus, not all food you’ll find here is spicy. A lot of us just prefer the spice.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for? I want to see what the capital is all about!” Korra said excitedly.

Whatever the group was expecting it certainly wasn’t this. The market square wasn’t really a square. It was blocks of stores, and restaurants that were bustling with people. The streets were thinner than what any of them were used to, and packed. Yet it somehow held an old and homey feeling to it. The buildings were in no way as tall as those in Republic City, and there was a decent mixture of in store shops, and pop up stands. Everywhere you turned, there was a new product to see.

“As you can see, the streets are smaller than what you’ll find in Republic City, so cars don’t really work here.” The princess began to explain as they walked through the market. “Plus, most people don’t have a place to store them. Though, motorcycles have recently become an interest to a lot of people. Still, our towns and cities tend to be smaller, and more tight knit. So, most have no problems walking from place to place.”

“It’s so different from Republic City. It’s like we’re in a different time.” Asami noted.

“We tend to stick to traditions a lot more than other nations. Our traditions and our past mean a lot to us.”

“Princess!” One of the shop owners called upon seeing Yua. Causing her and the rest of the group to turn their heads towards a jewelry stand. “Looking for new jewelry to wear for your birthday celebration?”

“I’m afraid not, Isamu,” she replied as she made her way over to the stand. “There’s not really room for jewelry with the outfit I have picked.”

“A shame. You always look radiant when you wear my jewelry. Though, maybe your friends would be interested in a souvenir from their visit.” Isamu said. Noticing Bolin’s bright and wide eyes as he looked at the jewelry. With Opal right at his side. “You know, men should know how to pick out jewelry for their ladies. I bet this would look splendid.” He offered, showing the pair an intricate gold necklace with a rather large ruby in the middle.

Bolin hesitated as he looked at the large and most likely expensive piece of jewelry. “Oh… I’m not sure…”

“Are you trying to scam these people, Isamu?” Yua teased as she crossed her arms with a smirk.

“I would never!” Isamu defended.

“Really? Because taking one look at this beautiful woman, you should know how much that would clash with her eyes alone. As well as the fact that she obviously is a simple woman. The genius that you are should know that a small red spinel or garnet stone with simple gold detailing would look best on her.”

“O-oh. How silly of me to have overlooked that! You are absolutely right, Your Highness.” As Isamu spoke, he put down the expensive necklace he was holding, and pulled out a few simpler ones for Bolin and Opal to look at. “Now, what about you my dear?” He asked, turning to Asami. “You look like an earrings type of woman.” This time he pulled out a small pair of hanging teardrop shaped earrings with a topaz gem in the center.

Asami and Korra looked to Yua, and she just nodded. Telling them that this time he wasn’t trying to sell them the most expensive thing he had on stop. Instead, he was actually picking from what would actually suit the person.

Eventually, Asami decided to buy the earrings while Bolin begrudgingly chose that he needed to save his money, and didn’t buy anything from Isamu. So the group continued through the market. Yua made a mental note to stop by and pick up one of the necklaces at a later time for Bolin to give to Opal.

“How’d you know all of that?” Mako asked as they walked away from Isamu’s stand. The two couples walked ahead of them as they eyed all the shops. Discussing which they wanted to check out.

“About the jewelry?” Yua asked and he nodded. “I’m a princess. Even though I don’t really care for jewelry, it’s something I grew up learning. Plus, it helps to know when you’re not being conned. Regardless of the situation.”

There was silence for a moment before Mako commented. “That was… impressive. You got any haggling skills?”

“Are you suggesting I haggle with my people?”

“I-I no! I just-”

Yua interrupted Mako’s stuttering with a laugh. “I’m pulling your leg, tough guy. Haggling is a simplified version of political negotiations. So yes, I haggle. Just not with money.”

Mako was going to say something, but the princess moved to enter a flower shop. “Shouldn’t we stick with them?” He asked. “They might get lost.”

“They’ll be fine. It won’t be hard to find them. I just want to check out the flowers for a minute. You can stick with them, and I’ll catch up in a few.”

Despite her words, Mako ended with her and both their senses were assaulted by the smell of fresh flowers. “You’d think a shop like this would work better as a stand,” he commented.

Yua ignored him as she made her way to the fire lilies and breathed in their scent. Though, the comment didn’t stay unnoticed for long as the shopkeeper spoke up. “All those flower stands and shops that keep their flowers outside have a hard time keeping their flowers fresh for as long as I do. There’s a reason this is the best place to buy flowers in the capital, young man.” Mako muttered an apology, and the woman turned to the princess. “Hello Princess Yua. Shopping for your birthday flowers already?”

“Afternoon, Rie.” Yua greeted. “And not yet, no. I’m just showing some people around the city, and wanted to stop in to check on how the fire lilies are blooming.”

“As you can see, they’re blooming perfectly. Which reminds me, how are the royal gardens doing?”

“Oh, fantastic ever since you sold us some of your special fertilizer! I don’t know what was causing the flowers to look so sad, but they’re just as bright and cheerful as ever.”

“That’s good. The palace gardens should never have to suffer through sad flowers.” Rie paused as she eyed Mako who was observing the flowers near the door. “You know, Princess, if a boy is going to take you out, you should make him buy you flowers. You deserve it.”

Yua couldn’t help the nervous laugh at the older woman’s words. “Oh, Rie. He’s not taking me out. Like I said, I’m showing him and his friends around the city. I’ll be showing them all around the Fire Nation while they’re here.”

“Well, that’s just silly!” Rie protested. “A beautiful girl like you should have all the boys begging to take her out. Yet you’re always by yourself, or going to those political meetings. You never leave time for anything else.”

“I appreciate your concern, Rie, but I’m just busy a lot of the time. I’m sure I’ll find someone nice at some point and settle down.”

“You better. You’re not getting any younger, and a pretty girl like you should never be single.”

Yua gave a forced smile, and turned to survey the rest of the shop. “Rie, do you think I could buy five of those red roses?” With the flowers in hand, Yua walked over to Mako and tucked one in his breast pocket. When he gave her a skeptical look, she just shrugged. “Thought you could use some red.”

Mako looked down at the remaining roses in her hand, and furrowed his brow. “You didn’t buy yourself one,” he noted.

“Why would I buy myself flowers? Come on. Best catch up to the four love birds before they get into something they shouldn’t.”

Mako didn’t argue with that as they left the shop. Upon entering the street again, it was obvious that the other four hadn’t made it terribly far. They were standing outside a clothing store, debating on whether they wanted to go inside or not. When the pair made their way back to them, Yua handed each of them a flower, saying the same thing she had told Mako. That they just needed a little red. Bolin tucked his in his breast pocket like Mako’s, Asami and Opal put theirs in their hair, and Korra chose to hold hers.

They did eventually decide to go into the clothing store for a bit. Though, no one came out with anything, and they continued through the market. Eventually they came to an open area that held a decent crowd with everyone facing a stage that had a firebender doing all kinds of tricks and fancy moves.

“Wow. What is that?” Bolin asked.

“That’s one of many street performers we have. The arts are a regular part of our culture, and we enjoy watching people perform. Does Republic City not have street performers?”

“They do. They just usually are people pedaling for money any way they can.” Bolin told her.

“Bolin tried to do it once. With Pabu.” Mako added, to which Bolin stuck out his tongue at him.

“Wait. So the city doesn’t pay those people to perform? These people are paid professionals. During the Hundred Year War, there were even performers that would go to the then colonies so that those Fire Nation citizens could continue to celebrate our culture.”

“Afraid not,” Mako said. “City won’t put the resources towards that kind of thing for no reason.”

At that moment, the crowd erupted in applause, and the performer spoke up. “Thank you! Thank you! This next trick is called, ‘ _ Taming the Dragon _ ’, and I’ll need a volunteer.” A few excited hands lifted into the air as he continued. “And who better to play the role of the ‘ _ trapped princess _ ’ than our very own! Princess Yua, would you do me the honor of helping me perform this next trick?” He outstretched his hand as if she could take it from all the way in the back, and bowed dramatically.

“I don’t know if I’d make a good damsel in distress,” Yua called back. “You sure the dragon you’re trying to tame isn’t me?”

The crowd laughed at that, and cheered for her to take the stage. To which she inevitably conceded and walked to through the crowd, letting the performer lift her onto the stage. He guided her to a chair, and tied a ribbon around her arms and the chair. Holding her there, even if she was held weakly. The performer pulled fire from torches that were on the stage, and formed a dragon in the air. He had it flying around, and acted as if he had it on a leash made of fire. Then he faked losing control of the dragon. So much so that it came flying straight for the princess. She didn’t flinch as the dragon touched the ribbon just enough to burn it through. Releasing her, and then exploding into confetti onto the crowd.

The crowd cheered and whooped as the performer took Yua’s hand and had her stand. “Thank you! Thank you! And a big round of applause for our brave volunteer. Princess Yua!” The two bowed, hands still linked, before she jumped down from the stage and returned to her group.

“That was amazing!” Korra exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Opal agreed. “I don’t know how you did that so easily. I would have been terrified.”

“It helps when you trust that the performer knows what they’re doing,” Yua said.   


“But Mako missed most of it,” Bolin huffed.

“Did not!” Mako argued. “I had to go grab something.”

“Where’d you go?” Yua asked. Wondering what could be more exciting or important than a show like that.

“I… You didn’t get yourself a flower. So I thought I’d get you one.” Mako produced a flower that he was holding behind his back. Though, it wasn’t a red rose like the rest of the flowers she had bought. It was one of the fire lilies she had been admiring.

Yua smiled at the gesture. “That’s very thoughtful of you, Mako. You really shouldn’t spend your money on me though.” She took the flower and placed it in her hair, behind her ear. 

After watching the performer for a bit longer, and going to a few more shops, it was time for them all to head back to the palace. Dinner was always a set time, and it would be rude to miss it on the first night. As they made their way back through the market, Yua stopped at Isamu’s stand, and bought one of the necklaces Bolin had been eyeing for Opal.

When they made it to the palace dining room, the table was already filled with an assortment of dishes, and they were the last ones to arrive. Zuko was sitting at the head of the table. With Izumi and Iroh at either side of him. Kojin sat beside Izumi. So Yua took the empty seat next to Iroh, and the rest of the group filled in. Mako sat beside Yua and Bolin was across from him, beside Kojin. Korra sat across from Zuko as the other head of the table, and Asami and Opal sat at her sides. Opal, of course, sitting beside Bolin as well.

“So, you weren’t going to make us wait long.” Izumi teased.

“I told you we’d make it.” Yua retorted, grabbing the glass in front of her and taking a drink.

“Before we begin,” Zuko said, noticing Bolin’s desire to dive straight into the food. “I want to thank you all again for coming. It’s been a while since the Avatar has graced these halls, and it’s good to see so many people fill this room. I hope my granddaughter manages to be a good host while you are all here.”

Yua let out a breath of surprise as his words managed to make her speechless for a moment. “What is with this blasphemy? Since when did meals start with picking on me?”

“We have to get it in as much as we can until your birthday. When we rightfully won’t be able to.” Iroh replied before reaching for one of the dishes in front of him and started to fill his plate.

“That was your cue to go ahead.” Kojin informed the rest of the table as the royal family started filling their plates, and the rest of the table quickly followed suit.

After dinner Mako, Bolin, Opal, Asami, and Korra wandered the palace, as Yua ran off to help her mother with something. Tomorrow would be an interesting day for Mako and Bolin. As the princess said she would take them to their mother’s hometown, Shu Jing. So while the brothers, mostly Bolin, talked excitedly about tomorrow, the girls discussed what they would do without the boys. All in all, it sounded like it was going to be a fun day for everyone.


	9. Meeting the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yua takes Mako and Bolin to meet their living relative in the Fire Nation. The boys bond with everyone's favorite dragon, and some complications arise during their trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we're past the halfway point of this fic. It's crazy, and I can't wait for you guys to read what I have in store for everyone. I feel like it hasn't been the most interesting of rides, but I appreciate you all sticking with me through this. I just really like this pairing. Enjoy!

“So, why are we meeting in the gardens?” Mako asked as he and Bolin stepped up to the princess standing in front of the turtle duck pond. “If we’re going to another island, shouldn’t we be at the docks?”

“That’s if we were taking a boat,” Yua replied simply.

“Then what are we taking?” Bolin asked.

“Not a what, but a who.” Yua pointed over to Druk who was relaxing on the other side of the garden. Basking in the sun. “Druk will be much faster, and make our trip to Shu Jing, one of the farthest islands, a half of a day trip instead of a full day.”

Mako stared at her for a moment. “You want us to ride a dragon? That seems a little… crazy.”

“You’ve ridden on sky bison before, right? It’s not that different.”

“Yeah, but they have saddles, and don’t have the ability to eat people.”

“Come on, Mako! I’m sure it’s fine.” Bolin argued as he made his way over to the resting dragon. The other two followed behind him. “Besides, how many people can say they’ve ridden a dragon?”

“Yeah, Mako.” Yua chimed. “Just think of it as riding a motorcycle, but a much smoother ride, and you don’t have to watch out for cars.”

Druk lifted his head a bit at the approaching trio and stared at the brothers. He always liked to assess any newcomers. Especially those that might try to use him for a ride. The dragon’s attention was pulled from the boys when the princess stepped up to him and started gently stroking his scales.

“Hi, buddy,” she cooed. “Do you think we could go for a ride today? I’ll make sure to sneak you some komodo chickens from the kitchen.” Druk leaned into her touch and let out a purr-like sound for a few seconds.

“Wow...” Bolin breathed in awe. Sure, the brothers knew how big Druk was from when Zuko had come to help with the Red Lotus threat, but neither had stood this close to him before. He was absolutely massive. His very presence was scary, but also somehow oddly beautiful at the same time.

Mako stepped closer to get a better look at the creature. As soon as he did that, Druk wrapped his long neck around the princess and let out a low growl. Putting himself in between Yua and the two strangers.

“Whoa there, buddy,” Yua chuckled as she continued to stroke his scales. “They’re alright. They’re not going to hurt me. I just want to take them to one of the outer islands. Will you help me?”

Druk stared at the brothers for an uncomfortably long time before relaxing somewhat. He lessened his hold on Yua and moved his head to rest on the ground right in front of Bolin.

“He sure is protective,” Mako noted.

Yua shrugged. “Well, when you watch someone grow up, you’re bound to be protective of them. Just give him a chance to read you and I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”

“Read me?” Mako wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly, but when she nodded, he was certain he had.

As Mako was trying to determine what that meant, Bolin cautiously reached his hand out to the dragon. Druk didn’t move as his hand gently touched his snout. “This is so cool!” Bolin spoke gently as to not startle the giant creature. “Mako, you have got to try this. He’s so warm.”

“I think I’m good where I am. I’d rather not have my arm chewed off.”

Yua let out a light-hearted sigh as she stepped away from Druk. “Come on. He’s not that scary.” Gently taking Mako’s arm, she guided him to stand beside Bolin. She then lifted his hand and carefully placed it on the side of Druk’s face. The dragon took a deep breath and released it as a thin line of smoke, relaxing fully at the brothers’ touches. “See, not so bad,” she said softly, releasing Mako’s hand.

As the brothers were getting acquainted with Druk, and he with them, Yua prepared for their departure. She draped a saddlebag full of food over his neck and adjusted it to make sure it wouldn’t fall off. They’d need it if the brothers decided they wanted to bring back any souvenirs from their mother’s hometown. As well as to feed Druk himself. When everything was ready, and the boys seemed comfortable enough with Druk, Yua climbed up. Sitting right above the saddlebag, and gripping Druk’s horns. The brothers climbed on shortly after, and they were off. The ride was smooth and cut the trip down immensely as compared to taking a boat.

Shu Jing was built into a cliff, surrounded by many mountains and waterfalls. The bright greens of vegetation stood in great contrast to the reds and golds of the town itself. Bolin and Mako took in the beautiful scenery as Druk landed in a clearing right outside the town.

“This place is amazing,” Mako said as he dismounted Druk. “Why would Mom want to leave here?”

“That’s something you’ll have to ask about,” Yua said simply.

“What do you mean?”

“From what I was able to find, you do still have a living relative in the Fire Nation. Naoki’s father.”

“We get to meet our grandpa?!” Bolin was practically bursting with excitement at the information that there was even more family for them to meet.

Yua pulled two komodo chickens from the saddlebag and tossed one to Druk. Who caught it easily in his mouth. “Yep. That’s where we’ll be heading. I figured we could see the town, and then pay him a visit if he’s not busy.” She tossed the second komodo chicken to Druk, and he caught that one as well.

The trio took their time walking through the town. It was a completely different world than that of the capital. It wasn’t as bustling and it was smaller, but more spread out. The people had a lot of land to work with, lending to a very tranquil and simple atmosphere. As they walked, Yua explained how one of the world’s best swordsman used to live in the castle above the village, and how it was now a school where anyone could learn the art of the sword.

After they had gotten a good look and feel for the town, Yua led them to a small, simple-looking home. The brothers stood behind her as she went up to the door. When she knocked on the door, an old man with piercing amber eyes and gray hair opened the door.

His eyes widened at the sight of who was at his doorstep. “Princess Yua!” The old man bowed. “What do I owe the honor?”

“We were looking for a man named Maozi. You wouldn’t happen to know where we can find him, would you?”

“I, uh... That would be me, Your Highness,” he told her. “What can I help you with?”

Yua smiled sweetly at him. “Well… I was wondering if you might want to meet your grandchildren. Mako and Bolin.” As she said their names, she motioned to each one respectively.

“M-my grandchildren? Naoki had kids?” Maozi’s shock quickly dissipated and he rushed to move out of the way. “Please, come in! I’ll get a pot of tea started.”

“Oh, no, sir.” Yua moved to stop the man as Mako closed the door behind them. “It would be an honor if you’d let me serve you. Please, sit.”

“W-well, I…” Maozi glanced over at the brothers before looking back at the princess and offering her a weak smile. “Of course. Thank you, Your Highness.”

Yua went into Maozi’s small kitchen, and the three men took a seat at his table. There was an awkward silence that fell over the room. None of them knowing what to say or even where to start. Maozi looked at his hands, and the brothers shared a look between each other.

“So..” Mako attempted. “You didn’t know our mom had kids?”

Maozi sighed sadly. “Naoki wanted to study in Republic City. My wife, Iya, and I wanted her to stay here to study, but we still supported her decision. When she told us that she had met a boy from the Earth Kingdom, it started a huge fight. We wanted her to marry a nice Fire Nation boy. So, regretfully, that fight caused a rift between us and her. She didn’t return home after that and rarely wrote to us. Even with all the letters we sent, she no longer wanted anything to do with us. The only time we heard anything about her was when we learned she died.”

There was another long silence between them as the brothers took in his words. Then Bolin spoke up softly. “Why didn’t you want Mom with someone from the Earth Kingdom?”

“We were under the impression, wrongly, that mixing of the nations wasn’t a good idea. Both of us were raised incredibly traditional. It was actually that young woman’s family that taught me otherwise. Her mother is a beacon for marrying traditions and progress, but we learned that lesson far too late. I should have never held her back, and actually taken the time to listen to her. Then maybe things would have been different. Maybe we could have been a part of your life, and you would have known Iya.”

“Well, we’re here now,” Bolin said. “You can be a part of it now. We can know you.”

“I think Mom would be happy to know you’ve changed,” Mako offered.

Maozi smiled sadly. “I’m a lonely old man. Big city boys like you don’t have a place for such things in your life.”

“Of course they do,” Yua interjected as she came back into the room carrying a tray with a tea set on it. “They’re here, aren’t they?” She placed the tea set on the table carefully before filling the cups and passing them out to the table.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Maozi said, holding the cup delicately in his hands.

She smiled at him as she took a seat. “Yua, please.”

Everyone was silent for a moment as they tested the tea. It was a much more pleasant silence than the first, and it was Bolin that broke it this time around. “We’ve met our dad’s side of the family, and we really would like to know more about Mom and her side. If you would be willing to share, of course.”

So Maozi took the time to answer any questions the brothers had regarding their mother and grandparents. As well as listening to whatever stories Maozi wanted to tell. While Yua silently let the three of them have their time together as she primarily focused on keeping the teapot filled and warm. By the time the conversation slowed, it was well into the evening. Deciding that they had taken up enough of the man’s time, the three bid him a farewell, with Bolin and Mako promising to write him when they returned home.

“That was amazing!” Bolin exclaimed as the three walked down the street. “I can’t believe we actually got to meet our grandpa!”

“Yeah, it definitely was something,” Mako agreed with a smile. “I don’t think we’ve thanked you yet, Yua. For setting all of this up. It’s crazy that you managed to find Maozi with just our mother’s name to go off of.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m just happy I could help,” Yua said.

“Of course we need to thank you!” Bolin protested. “None of this would be happening without you! You’re amazing!”

Yua smiled at the ground before attempting to change the subject. “You know, since it’s past dinner time at the palace, why don’t we eat something here and then head back?”

Boling perked up a little more at that. “Sounds good to me! I’m starving!”

The trio found a nice local restaurant to settle down in. It had a cute and homey feeling, wasn’t terribly busy, and they ordered without a problem. Though, upon realizing who was dining with them, the waitress was determined to have them use the restaurant’s special dishes and cutlery. So she cleared off the preset plates and teacups, returning with new ones that were certainly fancier, but didn’t exactly fit the vibe of the place. Still, Yua voiced her appreciation, and Bolin dug in as soon as the food was in front of him.

“Aren’t you sick of tea?” Mako asked as the waitress returned with the replacement tea set, and placed it on the table.

“Everyone makes it slightly different. So it’s kind of hard to get sick of tea,” she replied, taking the teapot and filling her cup. Yua brought the cup to her lips, took a sip, and scowled.

“Don’t like it?” The tone in Mako’s voice had a kind of teasing in it.

She cleared her throat as she set the teacup back down. “Bitter,” she said. She then reached for the water on the table and drank heavily from that. No one touched the tea after that.

Despite the long conversation they had at Maozi’s house, the three continued to talk throughout their meal. However, halfway through their food, Yua started coughing. It started small, like she was just trying to clear her throat. That is, until she had a coughing fit into her napkin. Mako noticed her face become serious when she looked down at the napkin. She calmly placed the napkin back on the table and stood up.

“I need to go throw up,” she informed them before walking out.

The brothers shared a concerned look as she left. Mako’s eyes trailing down to the napkin she had set down, and he shot up from the table. There were flecks of blood contrasting against the white of the napkin.

“Bolin! Stop!” Mako swatted his brother’s chopsticks full of food out of his hand. “Grab the food and drinks. I need to check on the princess. And don’t eat anything else!”

Rushing outside, he found Yua bent over on the ground as she finished retching up her dinner. Mako knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her back as he assessed her status. Her hair was out of place, but that was the least of his worries. She looked pale and was shaking as she tried to wipe at her mouth.

“This isn’t good,” he muttered. He then pulled back slightly to yell for Bolin. “We need to get you out of here.” Mako took ahold of her waist and one of her hands to help her stand.

Bolin came rushing out of the restaurant with what looked like a soiled sack. It was obvious that, not knowing what to grab, he had just wrapped up the tablecloth and picked up everything in one go. “What’s going on?!” He asked in a panic.

“We need to get her back to the palace.” Mako looked down at the princess as she had another coughing fit. Concern marred his face. He let go of her hand and moved it to carefully sweep under her legs. Picking her up into his arms.

The brothers rushed to where Druk was lying comfortably. Noticing the state of the three, Druk stirred, immediately knowing something was wrong. Bolin shoved the tablecloth and its contents into the saddle bag, and made a staircase of earth for him and Mako to get on Druk easier. The dragon in question didn’t move a muscle as they mounted him, and as soon as they were safely and securely mounted, he took off without needing to be told.

Zuko was relaxing in the garden, in front of the turtle duck pond, when Druk landed in the garden clearing. He stood and watched the brothers slide down from the dragon, and took notice of his granddaughter in Mako’s arms. “What happened?” He insisted as he quickly made his way to them.

“I think she’s been poisoned,” Mako said shakily. The princess was weak and limp in his arms.

“Give her to me,” Zuko ordered, extending his arms to receive her. “I’ll take her to the healers.”

Mako handed Yua over without question. He noticed her clutching weakly to Zuko’s robes when she was safely in his arms. That was a good sign. She was at least somewhat conscious. Zuko rushed into the palace and off to the healers as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Druk started causing a fuss the moment Bolin removed the saddle bag from his neck. Out of instinct, Mako rushed to calm the obviously upset creature. Despite the fact that it would be very easy for Druk to burn everything in the vicinity. Still, Mako’s attempts to calm him seemed to work somewhat.

“What do we do now?” Bolin asked, unsure.

“I… I don’t know.” Because Mako was just as unsure as Bolin was.


	10. Nothing But Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The royal family has to deal with the aftermath of the attempted poisoning on Princess Yua.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since last chapter followed Mako, this chapter is supposed to follow Yua. Yet with her being out of commission currently, we'll be following Iroh. Hope you enjoy!

The royal family and their guests stood in anxious silence outside Princess Yua’s room. All waiting for the healer to step out and give her verdict. No one said a word, as if breaking the silence would cause everything to come crashing down in front of them. When the healer finally exited the room, the royal family stood at attention, and all eyes were on her.

“I’ve flushed out as much as I could,” the healer began softly. “The rest is up to her to work out. With any luck, her inner fire should be able to help her work through it, but only time will tell.”

“With any luck?” Iroh echoed, frustration clear in his voice. “We’re just supposed to hold out for luck to save her?”

“As I said, I’ve done all I can. I’ll continue to monitor her regularly, and make sure her heart rate stays steady, but all we can do is wait.”

Zuko stepped in, placing a hand on his grandson’s shoulder. “Thank you, Manik. Your attentiveness is appreciated. Are we free to enter?”

“Of course,” she replied softly and moved out of the doorway.

Walking into the room, Yua was laid out on her back. Unconscious and unmoving with her sheets tucked up under her arm, and over her torso. She was wearing her typical nightclothes, and she almost looked peaceful. If it wasn’t for the stiff nature of the way she laid, one could think she was sleeping. Izumi and Kojin stepped up to the side of their daughter’s bed while Zuko and Iroh stood at the foot of it, and everyone else stayed a respectful distance behind them.

Izumi sat on the edge of the bed and took Yua’s hand in hers. “Who could have done this?” She asked into the air when her husband knelt beside her and covered her hand with his. She wasn’t asking anyone specific, and she wasn’t expecting an answer. 

“I don’t know,” Mako spoke up, taking a step closer to the family. “But I promise I’ll find out.”

“We have investigators for that,” Iroh snapped. His sister was lying unconscious after an assassination attempt and Mako wanted to play detective? It was almost insulting.

“I get that, but Bolin and I were there. It would save time if I did the investigation.”

“Yeah, Mako’s one of Republic City’s brightest detectives,” Bolin chimed in. “If anyone can figure out who’s responsible, it’s him.”

There was silence in the room as the family thought through their options. “Would you really be willing to do that for us?” Zuko finally asked.

“Of course, sir.” Mako nodded. “I’ll do anything I need to to get to the bottom of this.”

Korra stepped forward to stand beside Mako and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out, Lord Zuko. I promise.”

Zuko was silent for another moment as he thought it through once more. “Well, if we have the promise of the Avatar and her friends, then I feel confident that this person will be brought to justice. Do what you must to find who did this, and bring them here.”

The family got very little sleep that night, as their minds were filled with worried thoughts for their princess. In the waking morning hours, Iroh found his mother sitting by his sister’s bed. She had pulled Yua’s desk chair over to the side of her bed, but there was no way for him to know how long she had been sitting there. Though, she was still in her nightgown which wasn’t a good sign.

“Mom…” Iroh said softly as he stepped further into the room.

Izumi jumped, and sighed in relief when she realized who it was. “Oh, Iroh. You startled me.”

“What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the day?”

“I’m looking after your sister. Someone has to make sure she’s okay.”

“Mom.” Iroh stepped closer to his mother and knelt beside her chair, taking her hands in his. “I know you’re worried about her. We all are, but you are still Fire Lord. You have a job to do, and you can’t spend your time sitting around waiting for Yua to wake up.”

“I can’t just leave her. What if something happens?”

“All you’ll be doing is sitting around, staring at her. You’re just going to work yourself up, and that’s not good for anyone, but there are still people you can do something for. You can do your job, and take care of our people. Go to your meetings, and keep the nation running. I’ll stay with her, and there will be healers checking on her around the clock.”

Izumi sighed. “You’re right.” She gave her son’s hand a squeeze before standing, and he followed suit shortly. “I should get dressed.”

When Izumi left, Iroh took her spot in the chair beside Yua’s bed. He rested his elbows on his thighs and stared at his unconscious sister. “Come on, brat. Don’t do this to me.” He took a deep breath and expelled it, running his hand over his face. “You’re not allowed to stop fighting, you hear me? You make it through this, or I swear…”

Iroh sat and held his sister’s hand. Partly for the comfort of the action, and partly so that he could share his heat and inner fire with her. Hoping that by doing so, it would strengthen her inner fire and she would be able to get through it faster. He stayed there for a good portion of the morning until his father came into the room and forced him to take a break to go eat something. Even if he didn’t want to, Iroh knew that he also needed to take care of himself. So Kojin switched places with him in the chair next to Yua’s bed. Kojin stayed there until Zuko came to relieve him, and the day continued on like that. With the royal family rotating out so that there was always at least one person at Yua’s side while they took care of everyday business.

The day went by slow, and everything passed by in a blur. Iroh had a hard time focusing on much of anything outside his concerns for his sister. The prince tried his best to keep himself occupied when he wasn’t sitting next to Yua’s bed, watching her. So he sparred, helped his mother with her work, checked on the guards’ rounds, and kept Druk company when all else failed. He even found the time to eat dinner even though he didn’t have the energy for what seemed like such a trivial thing.

The prince found the most comfort in the company of Druk and his father. Though, each one of the royal family knew of the pain they were all going through. Never wanting to truly leave Yua’s side, but also feeling terribly helpless and useless. Even the healers felt useless, and Iroh hated the looks of pity he saw in the faces of all the palace staff. He wanted to yell at someone to do something. To fix this. To bark orders like he was dealing with unruly soldiers. Yet he knew it wouldn’t help anything, and it certainly wouldn’t get Yua back on her feet any faster.

A heaviness weighed over the castle as everyone waited for any bit of news regarding the princess’ state. Things were uncommonly quiet and stiff in the palace halls. The staff was afraid to say too much in fear of the royals’ pain turning into anger, and being directed at them. No one wanted to make a wrong move during such a difficult time.

His thoughts were interrupted as a palace guard came up to him. “Prince Iroh,” the guard greeted. “The Avatar and her friends have returned, and they have the culprit with them.”

“Where are they?” Iroh asked immediately, knowing that he needed to be there.

“The throne room, Your Highness. With the Fire Lord and Liege.”

Iroh made his way to the throne room to find his parents standing before Korra and her friends. He crossed the room to stand at his mother’s side, mirroring his father who also stood beside her. Looking down, he saw a woman in handcuffs on her knees in front of them. She couldn’t have been much older than him, and he scowled at the thought. How someone, let alone someone still so young, could do something so terrible. This woman was one of their own. Someone that Yua fought and cared for even though she’d never know who they were. Someone who had harmed a strong and vibrant part of their nation.

“And you believe this woman is responsible for my daughter’s condition?” Izumi asked. Focus never leaving the woman in question as her eyes burned into her. “What makes you believe that?”

“She was our waitress in Shu Jing yesterday, and she’s the one that gave us the special dishware,” Mako explained. “Your investigators couldn’t find anything traceable in the tea or food itself. So that means something within the tea reacted to either a coating on the inside of the tea set or the material of the set itself.”

“We also found this in her things after she tried to run,” Asami added. She held something out to the royals, and Izumi took it.

What the Fire Lord held was a Pai Sho piece, but not just any piece. It was a lotus tile that was colored red. Her cold expression became that of anger as she realized what it meant. She turned it a few times in her hand before passing it to her husband.

“The Red Lotus?” Kojin voiced softy, looking between the avatar’s friends and the woman in question. “Why would the Red Lotus want to hurt Yua?” After all, she wasn’t in line to take the throne.

“The Red Lotus wants to rid the world of all that hold and use its power,” the woman sneered. “Return the world to its natural state so that we no longer have to fear  _ leaders  _ like you.”

The fire in Izumi’s eyes grew at those words. “You want something to fear?” She hissed as she grabbed the woman by her shirt collar, and lifted her so that they were face to face. “My daughter’s life has been put in danger, and you think I won’t make the rest of your days miserable? You will pay for what you’ve done.”

Iroh would be lying if he said he saw a problem with his mother’s actions. He was fairly certain that he’d be doing something similar if she wasn’t there. This woman had put their family in harm's way for some twisted ideology. Threats didn’t go without punishment, and assassination attempts certainly didn’t either.

Though, Kojin still felt the need to control his wife as he placed a hand gently on her arm. “Izumi…” He said softly. “This is not the time or place.”

Izumi glanced over to her husband momentarily before roughly dropping the woman. “Take her to the prison,” she ordered the guards. “I’ll handle her sentencing later.” As they were taking away the woman, the Fire Lord turned towards the avatar and her friends. Her expression softened slightly, and she bowed. “Thank you for your efforts in bringing justice.”

“What will happen to her?” Bolin asked, pointing in the direction of the woman.

“That depends entirely on what happens to my daughter,” Izumi replied coolly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things I still need to attend to.”

With that, she walked out of the throne room. Kojin followed shortly behind her after he gave his own  _ ‘thank you’  _ to the group. Leaving Team Avatar alone with the Crown Prince. A silence fell over the room as they all thought about what the Fire Lord said.

“She’s not going to…?” Opal couldn’t even finish her question, but it wasn’t hard to figure out where it was going.

Iroh straightened his shoulders at the question. “Something you need to understand about us is that there’s a reason they call us dragons, and it’s not entirely because of Druk. You mess with one of us, and you’ll get everything we have. Teeth, claws, fire, everything. That woman attempted to poison my sister. Actions like that do not come without consequences.”

“We understand that, Iroh,” Korra began, “but potentially taking her life is going a little too far. Don’t you think?”

“That’s not for you to decide,” he replied simply before leaving the room in a huff, leaving no room for further discussion on the topic.

\-----

Later that night, Iroh found his mother in the exact same position he had found her that morning. Only this time, she wasn’t in her nightgown, but donning her full royal robes instead. So he could only assume she had finished her duties for the day.

“You need to sleep,” he told her as he made his way into the room.

“And you don’t?” Izumi said, looking back at her son. “I’m not leaving her unattended, and I won’t have you risking your sleep. Now, go to bed.”

“Mom, it’s no-” Iroh was about to protest when another voice interrupted from behind them.

“I’ll do it.” Turning towards the voice, they saw Mako standing in the doorway. They stared at him, surprised and confused. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said quickly as he stepped fully into the room. “It’s just that I wanted to check up on her before trying to get some sleep, and… I figured watching her for the night is the least I could do for you and your family.”

Izumi stood from her seat and looked at Mako warmly, but she also looked so incredibly tired. “You and your friends have already done plenty. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re not asking,” Mako said. “Your Majesty, you and your family have been through a lot within the span of a day, and I want to do my part to help with that. If watching over the princess while you all get some rest is how I do that, it would be an honor.”

The Fire Lord and Prince shared a look before Izumi gave a small nod. It made a lot of sense to let someone else help. Especially if it meant the possibility of giving the whole family a well-deserved rest. Izumi’s first concern was always her family, and she couldn’t ignore the needs of the rest of them, or herself, for one.

Izumi moved to walk past Mako, but she stopped when she stood beside him. She placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. “Thank you.” That was all she said before dropping her hand and leaving for her own room.

An uncomfortable silence permeated the room as the two men remaining in the room stared at Yua in her bed. “You’re a good man, Mako.” Iroh finally said softly as he continued to look down at his sister. A million thoughts were running through his head. Most of them hoping, begging for her to be alright.

“I’m just doing what I can.” It was a simple statement coming from the detective, but Iroh could feel the weight that was held within it.

Iroh looked over at Mako, eyeing him carefully. He then bent down slightly and gave Yua’s hand a tight squeeze and a kiss on her forehead. Without another word, he left the room. Leaving Mako alone with the unconscious princess for the night. With only a candle to light the room, Mako took the seat next to the bed and placed his hand over the princess’.


	11. Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the princess still out of commission, Mako struggles with what to do with himself and making himself feel useful. Especially when his friends give him a hard time about feelings he doesn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another instalment for my new favorite rare pair. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. I always love reading feedback, so I hope you enjoy it. Also, I created a Spotify playlist for these two. Check it out if you're interested.
> 
> You can find the playlist here:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0QIMFzaxfHiDDBZsNirIVU?si=1aba98d88a584162

The sun was peeking in through the windows when Mako woke up. He was hunched over Yua’s bed with his hand loosely wrapped around her wrist. It wasn’t apparent to him when he had fallen asleep, but he knew it had still been dark outside. With a groan, he sat up and attempted to pop his back. It ached from the awkward sleeping position, and a part of him regretted falling asleep like that. Especially when he was supposed to be hurting his sleep schedule so that the Fire Lord could rest, but he fell asleep regardless.

“Not used to long nights?” A voice asked.

Mako’s head snapped to look for the source of the voice. “Lord Zuko!” Now he really regretted falling asleep. “I-I, uh…”

Not wanting to wake the sleeping boy, Zuko had brought another chair into the room and taken a seat on the opposite side of Yua’s bed. He chuckled at Mako’s reaction. “You can relax, young man. I’m not going to get mad at you for sleeping.”

“B-but I…” Mako wasn’t sure why he felt the need to explain why Lord Zuko should be upset, but he did. “I promised Fire Lord Izumi that I’d watch over her through the night, and I fell asleep.”

“Well, first I’d say that you can drop the formalities when you’re holding my granddaughter’s hand.” Mako quickly removed his hand from Yua’s arms at Zuko’s observation. “Second, you’re allowed to sleep. That’s not a crime.”

“You don’t see it as disrespectful? I technically went back on my word.”

“You’re still here, aren’t you?” Zuko waited for Mako to nod to continue. “Then you didn’t go back on anything. You stuck by her the whole night. You see, we’re doing this not to monitor her state, that’s for the healers to do, but more to give her strength to pull from. So that, regardless of if she hears us or not, that she knows she’s not alone. That her family is, and always will be, beside her.”

Mako was silent for a long while. Not sure what to say to any of that. Yua seemed really lucky to have a family unit as strong as hers, but there was still something that didn’t sit right with him. “Lord Zuko, sir,” He finally spoke up. “There’s something that’s been bothering me for a while now. Yua is obviously a very charismatic person, and she’s clearly got the adoration of your people, but Iroh mentioned how she doesn’t really have any friends. Why is that?”

Zuko sighed, looking down at his hands. “My granddaughter is a complicated young woman. She’s always put others before herself, but also finds it hard to trust others. She throws herself into her duties so she doesn’t have to think about it all.”

“I can understand what that’s like,” Mako said softly. Growing up, he had been so focused on taking care of Bolin, that he pushed aside anything else. He was so critical of new people that he never really let anyone in until Korra came along and forced her way into their life.

“Now, since you’ve asked your question, I think it’s only fair that I get to ask one of my own.”

Mako nodded. “Of course.” It wasn’t like he could deny the man. Though, his mind was racing with what he could possibly want to know.

“You were very quick to offer your services to bring that Red Lotus woman in. Then you offer to stay at Yua’s bedside. You owe us nothing, yet you consistently go out of your way for us. Why?”

Mako thought about his answer for a while, but Zuko didn’t seem to mind waiting. When he finally felt ready to answer, his gaze fell on the princess. “I guess I just feel responsible to some extent. If I had picked up on the signs sooner, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I’m not sure. All I know is that I’m worried about her, and I can’t stop this pit in my stomach. I think I just need to know that she’ll be okay.”

Zuko nodded in understanding. “You are not to blame for things that others do. There was no way you could have prevented this without taking her place. Something I’m certain she would have been adamant against.” He took a deep breath and straightened in his chair. “My granddaughter is a lot of things, but a quitter is not one. She’s a fighter, and if anyone can make it through this, it’s her.”

“You’re very hopeful,” Mako noted.

“It’s not so much hope as it is having faith in the warrior I know she is.”

Mako stayed there and shared the room with Zuko until the first healer of the day came to check on Yua. When she entered, he excused himself to go grab some breakfast. He made his way to the dining room and found Korra, Asami, Bolin, and Opal sitting down. They were talking quietly amongst themselves as he grabbed a plate of food and sat down beside Bolin.

“Hey, bro,” Bolin greeted around a mouthful of food. “I came to your room earlier to get you, but you weren’t there.”

“Yeah, I spent the night in the princess’ room,” Mako replied simply.

The four of them all turned to stare at him. “You what?” Korra finally asked. Shock evident in her voice.

He didn’t understand the looks they were giving him. What he had said made perfect sense. “I spent the night in Princess Yua’s room. Fire Lord Izumi was going to stay up all night by her bed, so I took her place.”

“Sounds like someone’s trying to make a good impression,” Asami teased with a smirk before taking a bite of her food.

Mako furrowed his brow in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Korra scoffed. “Come on, Mako. You’re not  _ that  _ elusive. Between this and what happened in Republic City, you’ve got it bad.”

“I do not!”

“I gotta agree with Korra on this one, bro,” Bolin added. “You get super protective when it comes to people you care about.”

“Some would say a little too much,” Korra muttered teasingly.

“I think it’s sweet. He’s looking out for her,” Opal said.

“I’m looking out for her because she was poisoned!” Mako protested. “And I’m not a leader of a nation that is avoiding their own needs to take care of her.”

“And there’s the defensiveness.” Asami hummed softly. “How long do you think he’ll be in denial this time?”

“You guys are ridiculous,” he huffed as he pushed up from the table, the food in front of him practically forgotten. “The Fire Princess has been poisoned, and you think me doing the bare minimum to take care of her is evidence that I like her?”

“She’s got around-the-clock healers and physicians at her disposal,” Opal said pointedly. “Technically her family doesn’t need to be watching over her so closely. They’re doing it because they’re worried.”

“And you’re not?!”

“Of course we are,” Asami said. “We just know that being by her bedside isn’t going to do anything, and we have no right to do that. It’s a bit rude for us to intrude on their grief like that.”

“It’s not about grief,” Mako protested, annoyed that this conversation was even happening. It was like Zuko had said; it was about giving Yua strength. It was about them being a family, and doing the only thing they could think to do.

“Then what is it about?” Asami asked softly.

Mako was silent for a few beats before raising his hand in the air and scoffing. “Just forget it.” He grabbed an apple that was on the table and stormed out of the room.

As he walked through the palace halls, he didn’t really have a destination in mind. He passed through the Hall of Fire Lords and stopped briefly to look at Zuko and Izumi’s portraits before he was on the move again. Part of him wanted to check up on Yua again, but he thought better of it. After all, he didn’t need to bother the royal family and it would only give his friends more fuel to fan the flames. So he kept walking. Eventually, he found himself at the entrance to the palace garden. He could see Druk relaxing in his typical spot and figured the dragon would be better company than his friends, and wouldn’t annoy him as much. If he wanted the company, that is.

Mako slowly made his way over to the dragon. “Hi, Druk,” he said awkwardly. Not knowing how to even approach a dragon, let alone strike up a conversation. “Mind if I sit with you?”

Druk didn’t say or make any noise at the question. Instead, he just stared at Mako blankly. His eyes then drifted to the apple in the detective’s hand.

Following Druk’s gaze, Mako lifted the apple in between them. “You want my apple? Sure, you can have it. I’m not really hungry anyway.” With that, Mako tossed the apple in the air, and Druk barely had to move to catch it in his mouth.

Once Druk had settled back down, Mako closed the gap between them, and sat down with his back against the dragon. When Druk didn’t move or attempt to get away, he took that as acceptance of his company. At least he didn’t have to worry about being barbequed just yet.

“Can you believe them?” Mako huffed, crossing his arms in front of him. “Acting like I have some ulterior motive. And for what?! Because I like the princess? Even if I did, it’s not like it could ever happen. A street rat like me doesn’t belong in the world of a princess.” The only response Druk gave to that was him letting out a puff of smoke. Mako sighed. “At least I can talk to you without being made fun of.”

Eventually, the rest of the group found Mako in the gardens, still lounging against Druk. That’s where they spent the next good chunk of time. Bolin and Opal were gushing over and attempting to feed the turtle ducks, while Asami and Korra attempted to get closer to Druk. While the dragon didn’t necessarily protest their presence beside him, it was obvious that he wasn’t exactly pleased with it either. It certainly wasn’t like how he was with Zuko and his family. He was always happy to see them, and simply tolerated most other people.

It was Asami’s idea to go into the market for something to do. So that’s where the group went. It worked out because, despite the royal family’s insistence not to get the princess any gifts, Mako did want to try and find something. If she woke up, she deserved something nice to wake up to. Plus, spending time in the market would be a good way for everyone to get their minds off of the current situation. Even if Mako found it practically impossible to do so. He was unable to stop thinking about Yua. Especially when he thought about how nice it would have been nice to have Yua with them. It just wasn’t the same without her small tidbits of knowledge or comments. It made Mako miss her practically bottomless stores of knowledge. The shine in her eyes when she got to talk about something she cared about. The way she was more than happy to answer any questions they had. He missed all of it.

When they returned to that palace, they found a guard waiting for them at the entrance.

“Did something happen?” Korra asked, worried that things had gotten worse since they had left.

“On the contrary,” the guard began. “Princess Yua is awake. If you would like to unload your things in your rooms first, you’re more than welcome to visit her. She’s still in her room.”

That’s all Mako needed to know before he darted through the palace without a second thought. He could hear the rest of the group rushing behind, but that eventually stopped as they broke off to quickly drop off their purchases. He hadn’t bought anything aside from food down at the market, so he didn’t have any reason to stop by his room.

The door to the princess’ room was already open, and he came to an abrupt halt once he stepped inside. Yua was surrounded by her family. Some sat on her bed with her, and others in chairs beside the bed. She had been in the middle of speaking when he barged in, so her words died on her lips as her gaze snapped to look at him. The two made prolonged eye contact, and Mako desperately wanted to know what was going through her head.

“You’re awake,” Mako breathed.

Before he could move closer or say anything else, his friends rushed into the room to verify the guard’s news. A sigh of relief broke through them, and a few of them voiced their own happiness that Yua was awake. The room was drowned in elated conversations and attempts to fill the princess in on what she had missed. Despite all the noise that now filled the room, Mako barely heard any of it. His focus solely on the princess. Studying her every move to make sure she was okay. He desperately wanted to be close to her but recognized that it wasn’t his place and let her family take precedent over his own selfish wants. Still, hearing her speak was like music to his ears.

Eventually, he forced himself to leave her room with the others. He had expected the heaviness in his chest to have subsided once she woke, but it still held strong. Though, it somehow felt different from what he had been feeling the last few days. The dread of what had and could happen no longer lingered over him, but the weight of something more important did. His mind raced with questions and thoughts of the princess as he fell asleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I just wanted to let you all know that I am thinking of maybe writing another Makua fic after I'm done with this one. There are three different ideas I've been thinking of.
> 
> 1\. A mafia au (Yua's family is a mob/mafia family and Mako is a detective trying to bring them down)
> 
> 2\. Temporary break up angst fic
> 
> 3\. A fic where Mako chooses his job over Yua and/or her family.
> 
> Let me know which you'd prefer to see. I also made a poll that you can vote on to help me decide. You can find that here: http://www.strawpoll.me/42667063


	12. Bonding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Yua being awake, she is forced to take some time to relax even if she doesn't want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to toxiclove7 for helping me edit and proofread.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy yet another installment. We're slowly coming to the end of it. Still, I hope you guys love this couple as much as I do.

For the first time since Yua, Mako, and Bolin had returned from Shu Jing, the royal family and their guests sat down for a meal together. Breakfast that morning was loud and chaotic as a new sense of life seemed to rejuvenate the palace. It was a huge contrast from the despair and darkness that had hung over the place for the last few days. Zuko was telling family stories, and Korra shared some stories as the avatar. Iroh and Yua were making fun of each other. Mako ended up with food all over his shirt thanks to Bolin. It was hard to believe that one of these people had been unconscious the day before.

“Okay. We should probably get going,” Yua said as she stood from her seat, Izumi and Iroh following suit. “We have a lot of meetings and things to get done today.”

“You’re not coming,” Izumi said simply. “Iroh will be filling in for you today.”

“What? Why?”

“You need to rest.”

“I’ve spent the last two days resting!”

“No, you’ve spent the last two days fighting off poison. Being unconscious does not constitute rest.”

“Wha-?” Yua stared at her mother in disbelief before turning to her father. “Dad?”

Kojin shook his head, staying seated where he was. “I agree with your mother on this. You need to take a day off.”

“It’s just for the day,” Iroh assured, placing his hand on Yua’s arm.

“Whatever. What’s one more day added to my random disappearance, right?” She replied bitterly before turning and leaving the room.

The princess was planning on doing some simple training exercises to pass the time, and work out her frustrations, but even that didn’t agree with her. Yua’s fire was smaller and weaker than it should have been. When she typically gave it her all, her fire streams easily reached the end of the training room. Now they barely made it a third of the way. She was also having problems with her dragon’s breath and being able to regulate her temperature during her exercises. After a few hours of trying to strengthen her fire, she became so frustrated that she just had to yell as she threw another fire stream into the empty training room. This time, it went about two-thirds of the way down the room.

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

Yua whipped around at the voice and saw Mako standing in the doorway to the training room with a tray of tea and pastries. “What do you want?”

“Oh, uh… Lord Zuko thought you might be here and figured you could use a break. So he had me bring you this.” Mako raised the tray slightly to emphasize what he was talking about.

“Who made it?”

“Lord Zuko.”

“You know you can just call him my grandfather, right?” She snapped. “You can leave it over there.” She pointed toward the edge of the room. “I’ll get to it later.”

“Um… Actually… Lord Zu- your grandfather wanted me to make sure you took a break.”

“What is everyone’s obsession with me taking a break?” Yua muttered to herself. She ran her hand over her face before dropping it roughly. “Fine,” she huffed and sat down where she had been standing. “Bring it here.”

Mako silently walked to where the princess was. He set the tray down between them and started laying out everything on the floor. “You know, they’re just worried about you. They don’t want you pushing yourself after what you’ve been through, and this doesn’t seem like much of a rest to me.”

“Why do you care?” She retorted coldly.

“I, uh…” Her aggravated behavior caught him off guard, and it left him speechless as he finished setting up the tea and placed the tray off to the side. “I was there when you got poisoned, remember? I was so scared when I realized what was happening. Even when we were searching for the woman that did it, I couldn’t stop worrying about you.”

That caused Yua to go silent for a moment, and she reached for a pastry to give her a reason for being quiet. Some of her anger and annoyance fading, she took a bite of the pastry before speaking. “I guess no one told you about the force of nature I can be.”

Mako chuckled, reaching to pour them both some tea. “Yeah, by that stream of fire, I’d say so.”

“You don’t need to patronize me,” she bit back.

He paused his tea pouring at that, looking up at her with confusion clear on his face. “I wasn’t trying to be patronizing. It just looked powerful, and I could feel the heat from the doorway.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because I’m pissed, and that is  _ not  _ the proper way to firebend.”

“Who cares about proper?” He asked as he finished pouring the tea.

Yua blinked at him befuddled, mouth forming into a thin line as her brain processed what he said. “Who cares about proper?!” Her hand loosely covered her mouth for a moment before she dropped it to her lap. “Proper firebending is a crucial part of being a firebender. Your power comes from within. It’s the breath, and your inner fire, that gives firebending its power. Not muscle, not anger, not any outside force. If you need anger to hold that power, your inner fire is weak. Using your anger to fuel it only taints it.”

Mako stared at her in stunned silence. Partially because he found it hard to speak after that, and also because he expected her to continue. There was just something about her that caused his brain to short circuit a bit whenever she got into explaining things.

“What?” Her irritation slowly returning at his blank stare.

“It’s just that… You talk about it as if you can feel it. As if an inner fire is actually a part of you and not just a term coined because we’re firebenders.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s a part of you. Are you telling me that you’ve never felt your inner fire?” Her annoyance slid off her face completely, replaced with pure confusion.

“I wasn’t taught by a dragon. How would I have known it was a real thing?”

“Okay, first off, dragons. Plural. Second, your inner fire is connected to your very being. Have you ever used your breath of fire?”

“My what?”

Yua sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Have you ever used your firebending to regulate your body temperature, or even breathed fire?”

“Oh, yeah. All the time when Bolin and I were kids. We lived on the streets, and I had to learn how to keep us warm. I don’t really breathe fire a whole lot. Unless it’s part of an old trick Bo and I used to use a lot.”

“Then chances are you have felt your inner fire, but you just don’t know what it feels like. Would you like to know what it feels like?”

Mako blanched at the question. “W-what about the tea?”

“Oh, just forget about it for a moment,” she waved off his concern. “Now, I want you to cup your hands together in front of you. Create a flame in your hands, and start doing some deep breaths.” As Yua talked, she also demonstrated the actions, so he could see exactly what she meant.. ”What you want to focus on is controlling that flame the way you control your body temperature. The culmination of your inner fire sits between the heart and the stomach. You should be able to feel that as it’s ebbing and flowing with the fire in your hands.”

Mako silently did as she said, listening to every word carefully. After a few minutes, he was able to feel something near the area she had been talking about. “I think I feel what you’re talking about…” He said softly, not wanting to break his concentration just yet. Looking over at the princess, he saw her own fire flickering, even more than his was. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she huffed.

“Yua…” He dropped his fire and reached out to her. He placed his hand under both of hers. “Your hands are freezing!”

The princess pulled away from him, causing her flame to go out. “I said it’s fine. My fire’s just temporarily weakened from fighting off the poison. So I’m having a little trouble regulating my body temperature.”

“How do you know it’s temporary?”

“I don’t. I’m just hoping it is. Otherwise…” The words died in her mouth because she didn’t know what she would do if this was the state she’d always be in after this.

“Otherwise what?” Mako pressed.

Yua forced a smile when she looked back up at Mako. “I guess I’ll just have to carry around my swords with me wherever I go,” she attempted to joke.

“Swords? Really? Is there anything you can’t do?”

Yua held her chin as she thought about it. “Well… I can’t really cook, driving’s a no, and math is a bit iffy.”

“So, basically everything I’m good at,” Mako replied playfully.

She chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

The two continued to sit together as they shared the tea and pastries. For once, Yua felt like she could just enjoy the presence of someone else. No judgment, ill will, or ulterior motives. She was able to just exist in the moment, and something about that brought her a strange bit of peace. Mako told her stories about what it was like to be friends with the avatar. As well as stories of him and Bolin, and she was perfectly content to let him. Glad that she felt like she didn’t have to try to keep the conversation going. Though, she did share some of her own stories about her family as well.

By the time the tea had been finished, Mako’s friends had come looking for him. They were planning on doing some exploring of the island, and asked if Yua wanted to come. She declined, saying that exploring wasn’t really an activity fit for resting. In reality, she had other plans. She wanted to see the woman that had poisoned her. So when it was just her and her guards, she told one of them to go inform her father that she would be heading to the prison. Once there, one of the prison guards led her to the cell the woman was being held in.

The woman lifted her head at the sound of the door opening and scowled slightly when she saw Yua enter. “If it isn’t the Fire Nation’s perfect little princess,” she said sarcastically. “Come to burn my face?”

“Your name is Amori, right?” Yua asked, ignoring the question.

“How did you…?” The woman stared at the princess with wide, surprised eyes.

“You were our waitress. You introduced yourself,” She replied as if that was all the explanation needed. As if it was something so terribly simple.

Amori was silent for a while. “What do you want?”

“I was told you are a Red Lotus member. So I get the attempt to rid the world of any link to world leaders, but there’s one thing I haven’t been able to understand. Were you planning to try to work your way up, or are you not as smart as you think you are and just took the first chance you got?”

Amori frowned at that. “You weren’t able to find a trace of any poison, were you?” She retorted.

Yua gave a bored shrug. “Does that really matter when you’ve been caught? If you had gotten away with it, or even if I had died, what was your plan?”

“I…” There was silence yet again as Amori thought through her response. “We will rid the world of all of you. The Red Lotus is going to change things.”

Yua laughed. A cold, mocking laugh. “Even if that is the case, you’re not going to see it. I hope you enjoy spending the rest of your days in this cell.”

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“Why would we give you that satisfaction? It’s obvious you want to die a martyr for your cause. So instead, you’ll just be left here to rot. To be forgotten, and no one will know what you tried to do. You’ve failed. Quite spectacularly, might I add.”

Yua turned to leave, and Amori shot up from where she sat on the ground. She grabbed onto the bars almost desperately. “You can’t do that! What about being strong?! Dragons don’t hold prisoners!”

The princess turned her head to look back at the woman. “Strength is about knowing when to strike, and when to hold back. Something you obviously never learned.” She offered her a smile and walked out. “Enjoy your stay.”

Leaving the prison, Kojin was there to meet Yua right outside the door and he did not look happy. The princess moved briskly past her father and he walked beside her. The tension was almost suffocating as each waited for the other to talk first.

“Yua…” Kojin finally started coolly. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I would tell you where I was instead of risk you telling me ‘no’ if I asked,” Yua said simply.

“Which is why I would like to be consulted on things like this. You should not have gone in there.”

“Do you expect me not to face the woman who tried to kill me? Am I not allowed that kind of closure anymore?”

Kojin sighed. Pulling Yua to a stop, he turned her to face him and placed his hand on the side of her shoulder. “Of course you’re allowed that kind of closure, sweetheart. I just wish you would have come to me before potentially doing something rash.”

She stared at her dad in mild disbelief “You thought I was going to do something to her, didn’t you?”

“No,” he replied fervently. “I thought something might happen if she managed to push your buttons enough. You’ve been through a lot, and I didn’t want you doing something you might regret.”

“Nothing happened, Dad. All I wanted was to look her in the face and let her see that she failed. That they’re always going to fail.”

“And I respect that. I’m on your side. I am, but I just had to watch my daughter fight for her life because of the woman in there. I’m worried about you, and I’m never going to not worry about you. So please, just put my mind at ease a little and talk to me next time.”

Yua nodded and that was all Kojin needed. The two walked back to the palace and spent the rest of the day together. Not because he felt like he needed to keep an eye on her, but because the two generally did like spending time together. It also helped that he had work related to the palace guards and military to do, and he thought Yua could use some distraction. So while she wasn’t allowed to help her mother with her work, she was able to help her father, which was what she needed. To feel useful, and helpful.

\-----

That night, Yua had trouble sleeping. She couldn’t stay warm long enough to fall asleep, and if she did manage to, it didn’t last long. She would wake up freezing, and her blankets weren’t doing nearly enough to help her. With one final huff of annoyance, she tossed the blankets off of her and sat up. Meditating was the first thing she thought to do to warm herself. The only problem was that she was able to stay warm while meditating, but the moment she tried to sleep, the cold would sneak back in. So with that option not leading anywhere, she racked her brain for what she could do to help herself get to sleep. Mako briefly crossed her mind, and she remembered how he was able to keep both him and Bolin warm when they were younger. She didn’t really want to resort to that, but she also didn’t want a sleepless night either.

Yua quietly made her way over to the detective’s guest room. Sneaking around the night guards, because if a guard found out where she was going, her parents would find out. Then the whole palace would know, and she did not want that. When she finally made it to Mako’s room, she had to knock a few times before he answered.

“Yua?” His voice was laced with sleep, and he ran his hand through his messy bedhead. “What time is it?”

“I, uh… don’t know,” she admitted, holding one of her arms in front of her nervously. “I’m having more trouble regulating my temperature, so I haven’t been able to sleep yet. I don’t want to worry my family, and you said you were good at keeping yourself warm. So…” She let the words die out, hoping that she wouldn’t have to actually say why she was there.

Mako rose his brow, and Yua could see the cockiness starting to grow. “You want to use me as your personal heater? So that you can sleep?”

“Just for the night,” she clarified. “If that’s not okay, I can maybe get something warm to drink and head back to my room to try meditating again.”

“Don’t bother. You’re already here.” He moved to the side to give her space to enter. “Come on in.”

She gave him a soft ‘thank you’ before ducking her head slightly and stepping into the room. “So…” It would be great if she wasn’t so anxious about this.

“So…” Mako couldn’t help the smirk that rested on his face. He was finding this whole situation quite amusing.

Yua noticed it and immediately crossed her arms at him. “If you’re going to be like that, I might as well head back to my room.” She moved to go past him and reach for the door, but he grabbed her lightly by the arm to stop her. The heat from his hand was felt almost instantly, and it warmed her slightly.

“You don’t have to do that,” he assured, the smirk still evident, though it’s intensity had died down. “I just find it a little funny that the self-assured Princess of the Fire Nation is actually asking for help. Let alone being so nervous about it.”

“Well, I…” She straightened her stance and met his gaze head-on. “Didn’t want it to be an inconvenience to you.”

Mako chuckled softly at that, moving back to his bed. “It’s not an inconvenience, Your Highness. I helped your family get some well-needed rest. The least I can do is give you the same.”

“What do you mean, you helped them rest?” Yua moved to stand in front of the bed as he climbed back in.

“I stayed by your bed when you were unconscious so that your mom would get some sleep. She was planning on staying up the whole night just to keep watch.”

“Oh…” She spoke softly, head dropping slightly. “That was nice of you.”

“I wasn’t going to let them lose even more sleep worrying about you.” Mako gave her a soft smile and folded over the covers on the other side of the bed. “Now, are you coming or not? It’s kind of late.”

“Right…” Yua carefully climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over herself. When she was laying down, Mako pulled her close to him. “What are yo-”

“How are you supposed to get warm from the other side of the bed?”

“I guess I didn’t really think that through too well.” 

Mako chuckled once more. “This doesn’t have to be a big deal if you don’t want it to be.”

Yua simply just hummed and adjusted herself so that she was more comfortable. With her head resting on his chest, and his head automatically rested over the top of her head. Mako took a deep breath, and his heat permeated her almost immediately. She closed her eyes, and it didn’t take her long to fall into a deep sleep now that she was warm. For the first time in a while, she almost felt content. Laying in the arms of a man she barely knew, and trying not to make a bigger deal out of it than it was.


	13. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day before Princess Yua's birthday, and everyone has last minute things to prepare. One last shopping trip before they set out for Ember Island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close. I'm almost sad to see this story come to an end. I love these two cuties, and don't think I'll ever tire of writing them. So, while I will be writing another Makua fic after this one, if you want any one off fics for this pair, feel free to request them to my tumblr at bendingmuses. I'd also love to write more of the Fire Nation royal family, cause they're didn't get enough love in LOK.

Mako woke up to the sun shining through the window, and movement on the bed. He groaned and rolled onto his back. His arm went to cover his eyes in an attempt to block out the sun. At the sound of shuffling in the room, he lifted his arm slightly and cracked his eyes open. He was greeted with the sight of Yua sitting on the bed with her back to him, putting her long black hair in a ponytail.

“What time is it?” He groaned, his voice raspy from sleep.

Yua turned back to look at him briefly. “Daybreak.”

“Ugh. Why do you have to get up so early?” Mako whined, grabbing a pillow and placing it over his head.

Yua chuckled softly. “You’re a firebender. Are you telling me you don’t wake up with the sun?”

“The sun doesn’t wake up, Princess. And no. I only get up this early when I have to for work.”

“Oh, well the whole palace practically wakes up at this time, and I can’t have anyone find out I spent the night in someone else’s room.” She stood and started making her way to the door. “Especially when I need to make last-minute preparations for my birthday.

That caught Mako’s attention. He threw the pillow to the side and sat up. “Your birthday?”

“Yeah, it’s tomorrow. With everything that’s happened, I almost forgot about it too.”

“Yeah… Things have been crazy…” Crap. He still hadn’t found a gift for her, and now he definitely felt like she deserved something. The problem was, he didn’t know what to get someone who already had everything.

Yua came over to Mako’s side of the bed and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for keeping me warm last night. I appreciate it.”

He was at a loss for words as she left the room. Only managing a soft  _ ‘anytime’  _ when the door had already closed. Since he was already up, he decided to get dressed and ready for the day. Once he was dressed, he made his way to the dining room for breakfast. To his surprise, he was the first one there. He had at least expected Yua or one of her family members to be there. Though, he didn’t have to wait long for Bolin and Opal to join him, and then Asami and Korra to bring in the rear. That was when a guard told them that the royal family had already had breakfast and that Fire Liege Kojin requested their presence in the gardens when they were done. When they were all done eating, they made their way to the gardens and found all three men of the royal family waiting for them.

“What’s this about?” Asami asked.

“The itinerary for Yua’s birthday, and so that we can teach you a Fire Nation tradition,” Kojin said.

“There’s an itinerary?” Korra questioned, frowning at the thought. “That doesn’t sound very birthday-like.”

“Oh, it’s nothing too terrible,” Zuko assured with a smile. “It’s just that a full day dedicated to one person the way we do requires a bit of structure.”

“So we’re going to go over the events of tomorrow to make sure you know what to expect and get prepared,” Iroh added.

“And the tradition?” Mako asked skeptically.

“A dance,” Zuko said. “One that you don’t need to know by any means, but it’s good to know if you want to join in.”

Kojin clapped his hands once in front of him to get the group’s attention. “But let’s get into what the day is going to be like first. We’ll actually be leaving tonight for Ember Island by boat. The family has a beach house there, and leaving tonight makes it so that we’ll get there bright and early in the morning and have the whole day. Breakfast and lunch will be very informal as you’ll be given the morning and some of the afternoon to enjoy the house, beach, and nearby town. At three o’clock there is a play that we’ll all be going to. I’d recommend dressing slightly nicer than your usual outfits. Then, dinner at the house. When we’re all done eating, you’ll get ready for the party. It’s formal and held outside in the house courtyard with tons of guests from different parts of the nation. There are typically fireworks when it gets dark, and people leave at their own discretion when the night starts dying down. Then we’ll leave the next morning to return to the palace. Any questions?”

There was a deafening silence as the group looked between each other. So much for not being ‘too terrible’ as Zuko had said. “Yeah, um…” Bolin raised his hand nervously. “How many outfits are we supposed to have?”

“I would recommend at least four,” Zuko said. “Something for the beach, your casual clothes, an outfit for the play, and one for the party itself.”

“That’s going to be a problem…” Korra said sheepishly. “You see, we got the beach stuff, but I don’t think any of us brought anything fancy enough for a formal party.”

Kojin looked over at Iroh. “You or your sister didn’t bother to tell them about bringing something formal?”

“Uh… Guess it slipped our mind…”

Kojin sighed, and gave his son a disappointed look. “The two of you, I swear. The first time in a while that we’ve had guests, and you forget…” His words faded with a light flourish of his hands. “It’s fine. I’ll just take you all shopping when we’re done here. Make sure you get everything you need, and you won’t have to pay for a thing.”

“That’s very kind of you, sir,” Opal said. “But we can’t let you do that for us. You’ve already been incredibly accommodating as is.”

“It is my childrens’ fault that you are ill-prepared. So I will remedy that. No use in you spending your money on something that could have been avoided. Though, I’m afraid you’ll be stuck with our colors and fashion. Local shops don’t really expand into the fashion of other nations.”

“That’s very nice of you. I’m sure we can manage. Thank you.” There was silence before Opal added. “So, what about that dance?”

“Ah, yes. One of Yua’s favorite traditions. She loves to dance,” Zuko said with a smile. “It was designed for firebenders, but everyone, regardless of bending ability or lack thereof, is welcomed and encouraged to join in. It’s a partner dance that is done in a circle. So if the young ladies wouldn’t mind helping us demonstrate, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Korra was Zuko’s partner, Asami was Iroh’s, and Opal was Kojin’s while Mako and Bolin sat and learned through watching as the older men explained the dance. The partners started off with a small bow. They then linked their right hand wrists in between them with their palms facing upwards into the air and spun in a circle with their wrists being the center. Once they made a full circle, they switched wrists and went in the opposite direction. They then took a hold of their partner’s hand and extended their free arm out into the open air. They would spin yet again until they could take a hold of another’s hand and release their partners. That was what they kept doing until they returned to their original partner. Essentially going through the whole circle. All while the free hand they had at any given moment was extended palm up. When they are returned to their partner, they pull each other in and take a hold of both of their hands, making an ‘X’ between their bodies. They then push out from each other, still holding their hands, and bring each other back in once more. When they are together again, one hand is released and the taller person spins the shorter person a few times. The shorter one holds their free hand palm up near their abdomen, and the taller one keeps their hand behind their back as the shorter one spins. The last move of the dance is that once the spinning is done, the partners put their right arms palm up on the edge of their partner’s shoulder and turn. They then switch hands and place them palm up on the other shoulder, and turn yet again. When the music dies down, the partners drop their open palms to rest in the space between them and bow to close out the dance.

“As you can see, it’s a little old-fashioned,” Iroh said when they finished their demonstration.

“It’s cultural and your sister likes it,” Kojin chastised his son before turning his attention back to finishing up the explanation. “It’s designed for firebenders because anytime your hand is not occupied with holding another’s there should be a small flame in it. Of course, non-benders, or other types of benders don’t need to worry about that, but it looks beautiful at night.”

“Which is when the party will be,” Zuko added. “Now, are there any questions about the plans or the dance?” Five hands lifted in the air, and Zuko couldn’t help but laugh.

When all questions and explanations were out of the way, Kojin ushered the five young adults towards the market. It was somehow busier and livelier than they had seen the previous two times they had been there. Some of the shops and restaurants were busy putting up decorations, and there was an excited buzz in the air.

“What’s everyone so excited about?” Korra asked.

“They don’t know about…” Bolin paused before lowering his voice. “What happened, do they?”

“Oh, no. That was contained within the palace. No one knows about that,” Kojin assured. “Everyone is getting ready for tomorrow. See, the birthdays of Izumi, Iroh, and Yua are excuses for people to celebrate. The streets throughout the city will be filled with all kinds of music and dancing, and everyone will be toasting to her health.”

“That’s… something.” Mako really wanted to say how odd it was, but he didn’t want to be rude.

“It’s definitely something to get used to.” Kojin agreed. “After the Hundred Year War, people needed something to do and things to look forward to. Apparently the news of Izumi’s birth was met with cheers and merriment from a good majority of the people. So they decided to continue that every year. It simply just carried over to our children when they were born, and is one of the Fire Nation’s newest traditions.”

“Well, hopefully we can get this finished without too much of a problem,” Mako grumbled.

Their first stop was a high-end clothing shop that specialized in a mixture of traditional and modern clothing. It was where the royal family got and commissioned most of their clothing, and Kojin knew the tailor by name. Though there definitely wasn’t enough time to think about any custom orders, so they would have to pick from the selection already available. Then the tailor would bring them in so what they picked fit perfectly. Bolin picked a three-piece dark brown patterned suit with a white button-up shirt and red tie. Mako also picked a three-piece suit, but his was mainly a deep black with a red button-up shirt underneath. Korra found a simple over the shoulder black dress. While Asami chose a sleeveless red two-piece dress with a matching shawl. Then Opal picked a red dress with a deep v neckline that faded into a more pinkish color at the bottom. When all the altercations were completed, the outfits were bagged up, and they continued their way through the market. Stopping by a few jewelry and accessory stores to give the outfits a little more of a personal touch.

“So, what kind of things does Yua like?” Asami asked Kojin as the group perused some jewelry in the shop they were currently in.

Kojin stood near the entrance of the shop. Watching the group as they browsed. “If you’re talking about material possessions, she doesn’t care for them much. Unless you’re talking about swords or knives, and the like. Which is why I told all of you that presents weren’t necessary.”

“Really? I would have thought a princess would be all about material possessions.” Korra commented. “It’s certainly something we’ve seen from some of the other royalty we’ve encountered.”

Kojin chuckled at that. “Yes, well, I think you’ll find that neither of my children are what you would call typical royalty. They’re fighters, and while Iroh may not admit it, both of them enjoy it. I just don’t know who’s side of the family they get it from more.”

“There’s got to be something she likes,” Mako prodded. Remembering that he still hadn’t found a gift for her, even though Kojin said it wasn’t necessary.

Kojin thought for a moment. “Aside from weapons, she likes books. Anything she can learn from. She also enjoys flowers. Nature in general, really. She likes to keep trinkets that tell a story, or something that reminds her of things she’s experienced. What she really likes is spending time with people. It’s why gifts aren’t a big thing for her, and why we plan the whole day for her. Speaking of which, I need you kids to make sure that tomorrow is all about her.”

They all turned to look at each other, confused by the request, but it was Asami that spoke. “Why would you need us to do that? It’s her birthday. Shouldn’t it be all about her anyway?”

“You would think that, but no.” Kojin sighed. “Yua spends so much time caring about others, and putting others before herself that her birthday isn’t even an excuse to put herself first. So if you see her worrying about other people having a good time, I need you to turn that around and make sure  _ she’s  _ having a good time. Don’t let her worry about the little things, or what could go wrong. Just have fun with her.”

“You can count on us, sir!” Bolin said with a salute, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

After that, they finished up their shopping and headed back to the palace for dinner. Though, Mako did slip into a weapons shop briefly before they left. After dinner, everyone packed their things and prepared to get on the ship that would take them to Ember Island. It was dark by the time everyone was ready and on the ship. Everyone spent some time congregating on the deck until they were ready to go to bed. Zuko, Izumi, and Kojin were the first ones to go below deck, then Opal, Korra, and Asami later followed suit. Which left Mako, Bolin, and Yua as the last ones up.

“Oh, Bolin.” Yua started as soon as Opal was out of sight. “I’ve been meaning to give this to you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace that Opal had been eyeing on her first day.

Bolin’s eyes widened, taking the necklace carefully in his hands. “That’s the necklace Opal wanted! When did you get it?!”

“The first day you were here. I figured you could give it to her, and say it’s from you.”

“Really?!”

Yua nodded.

“Oh, Yua!” Bolin pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. “You are the absolute best! I’m going to go give this to her right now!” With that, he rushed off after Opal. Leaving Mako and Yua alone on the deck.

“You know you didn’t have to do that, right?” Despite his words, there was a smile on Mako’s face and a light tone to his voice.

“Yeah, but I wanted to. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t ever dream of doing something like that for you.”

Mako rose a brow at that. “Why not?”

“You’re really asking that?” She crossed her arms with a small smirk. “Mister, I get self-conscious when being given the slightest bit of generosity and kindness.”

Mako dropped his head slightly in shame, but couldn’t help but smile. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Yua leaned back against the gunwale, pleased by his reaction. “Nope.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I deserve that.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two as Yua looked up at the stars and Mako looked at her. His hand itched to pull her gift out of his pocket and give it to her right then and there. To hopefully see those eyes light up because of him. However, he also didn’t want the sight before him to end. The moon lighting her face in a way he hadn’t seen before, and the way her hair framed her face perfectly.

“I should probably head to bed. Got a big day ahead of us.” Yua said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah. I’d say it’s going to be a pretty important day.” Mako replied as she casually pushed herself off the gunwale. “Do you… Will you need help tonight?”

Something about the way he said that made her heart flutter, and she desperately wanted to say yes to his question. “I should be good,” she assured instead. “My temperature regulation is already getting better. Besides, the beds on the ship are typically made for a single person. Thanks for the offer though.”

“Of course. Anytime.”

Yua gave him a small smile. “Don’t stay up too late,” she said softly, “and sleep tight.”

The princess heading off to bed made Mako the last one up on the deck. It left him alone with his thoughts. Something that was, arguably, never a good thing. His own doubts filled his head as all the interactions he had had with Yua played through his mind. Fingers ghosted over her gift in his pocket, trying to decide what he should do. He wasn’t worthy of a princess, that much he knew, but a part of him desperately wanted to be.


End file.
